Lexicon :: Strong's H7462 - rāʿâ

The one who walks with the wise will become wise,

but a companion of fools will suffer harm.

A discerning mind seeks knowledge,

but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

Don’t make friends with an angry person,[fn]

and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,

A discerning son keeps the law,

but a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,

but one who consorts with prostitutes destroys his wealth.

The sayings of the wise are like cattle prods, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.[fn]

Tell me, you whom I love:

Where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you let them rest at noon?

Why should I be like one who veils herself[fn]

beside the flocks of your companions?

My love is mine and I am his;

he feeds among the lilies.

Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.

My love has gone down to his garden,

to beds of spice,

to feed in the gardens

and gather lilies.

Lambs will graze

as if in[fn] their own pastures,

and resident aliens[fn] will eat

among the ruins of the rich.

The cow and the bear will graze,

their young ones will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like cattle.

It will never be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation;

a nomad will not pitch his tent there,

and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

Then the firstborn of the poor will be well fed,

and the impoverished will lie down in safety,

but I will kill your root with hunger,

and your remnant will be slain.

For the fortified city will be desolate,

pastures deserted and abandoned like a wilderness.

Calves will graze there,

and there they will spread out and strip its branches.

Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.

For this is what the LORD said to me:

As a lion or young lion growls over its prey

when a band of shepherds is called out against it,

and it is not terrified by their shouting

or subdued by their noise,

so the LORD of Armies will come down

to fight on Mount Zion

and on its hill.

He protects his flock like a shepherd;

he gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them in the fold of his garment.

He gently leads those that are nursing.

He feeds on[fn] ashes.

His deceived mind has led him astray,

and he cannot rescue himself,

or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand? ”

saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”

and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”

They will feed along the pathways,

and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.

These dogs have fierce appetites;

they never have enough.

And they are shepherds

who have no discernment;

all of them turn to their own way,

every last one for his own profit.

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,

and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

Then he[fn] remembered the days of the past,

the days of Moses and his people.

Where is he who brought them out of the sea

with the shepherds[fn] of his flock?

Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among the flock?

“The wolf and the lamb will feed together,[fn]

and the lion will eat straw like cattle,

but the serpent’s food will be dust!

They will not do what is evil or destroy

on my entire holy mountain,”

says the LORD.

The priests quit asking, “Where is the LORD? ”

The experts in the law no longer knew me,

and the rulers rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by[fn] Baal

and followed useless idols.

“I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me,[fn] and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.

“Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;

they will pitch their tents all around her.

Each will pasture his own portion.

For the shepherds are stupid:

They don’t seek the LORD.

Therefore they have not prospered,

and their whole flock is scattered.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;

they have trampled my plot of land.

They have turned my desirable plot

into a desolate wasteland.

But I have not run away from being your shepherd,

and I have not longed for the fatal day.

You know my words were spoken in your presence.

The wind will take charge of[fn] all your shepherds,

and your lovers will go into captivity.

Then you will be ashamed and humiliated

because of all your evil.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! ” This is the LORD’s declaration.

Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.

Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.

Because the days of your slaughter have come,

you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.

Nations, hear the word of the LORD,

and tell it among the far off coasts and islands!

Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him.

He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,

“This is what the LORD of Armies says: In this desolate place ​— ​without people or animals ​— ​and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks.

“I[fn] will kindle a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods, and he will burn them and take them captive. He will clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks lice off[fn] his clothes, and he will leave there unscathed.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[fn] of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me? ”

My people were lost sheep;

their shepherds led them astray,

guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.

They wandered from mountain to hill;

they forgot their resting place.

With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock;

with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team.[fn]

With you I will smash governors and officials.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?