For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.
I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
- Ezekiel 34:11-16
I loved the way the whole passage uses the shepherd imagery. I think we can get so used to Psalm 23 being the "shepherd passage" that we can forget the imagery is used in other places as well. The whole of Ezekiel 34 is about God the shepherd, and I encourage you to read it for yourself.
This image shows the shepherd tending his flock. I found a picture to copy on Google, and used my watercolour pencils and a black Micron pen.
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