'Shepherds' in the Bible

and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, water the sheep, and [afterward] replace the stone on the mouth of the well.

But they said, “We cannot [leave] until all the flocks are gathered together, and the shepherds roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we will water the sheep.”

and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

And Pharaoh said to his brothers [as Joseph expected], “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers [before us].”

Then shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

They said, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even drew water [from the well] for us and watered the flock.”

Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.

Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything all the time they were in Carmel.

And he set out and went to Samaria. On the way as he was at the place of the sand heaps [meeting place] for the shepherds,

(The Bridegroom)“If you do not know [where your lover is],O you fairest among women,Run along, follow the tracks of the flock,And pasture your young goatsBy the tents of the shepherds.

Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

For so the Lord says to me,“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,And though a large group of shepherds is called out against himHe will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,So the Lord of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

And the dogs are greedy; they never have enough.They are shepherds who have no understanding;They have all turned to their own way,Each one to his unlawful gain, without exception.

Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses [and they said],Where is He who brought our fathers up out of the [Red] Sea, with the shepherds of His flock [Moses and Aaron]?Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in their midst,

“[Even] the priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’And those who deal with the law [given to Moses] did not know Me.The rulers and shepherds also transgressed against Me,And the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] BaalAnd walked after [idolatrous] things that did not benefit [them].

“Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding.

“Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;They will pitch their tents all around her;They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

For the shepherds [of the people] have become [like brutes,] irrational and stupid,And have not searched for the Lord or asked about Him or realized their need for Him;Therefore they have not been wise and have not prospered,And all their flocks are scattered.

“Many shepherds (invaders) have destroyed My vineyard (Judah),They have trampled My field underfoot;They have made My pleasant fieldA desolate wilderness.

“The wind [of adversity] will carry away all your shepherds (rulers, statesmen),And your lovers (allies) will go into exile.Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated and disgracedBecause of all your wickedness.

“Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care for and feed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visit and attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord.

I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” says the Lord.

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;And roll in ashes, you masters of the flock.For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come in full,And you will fall and be broken into pieces like a choice vessel.

“The shepherds will have no way to flee,Nor the masters of the flock any [way of] escape.

“A voice! The cry of the shepherdsAnd the wailing of the masters of the flock!For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘There will again be in this desolate place—[a place] without man or animal—and in all its cities, pastures for shepherds who rest their flocks.

“My people have become lost sheep;Their shepherds have led them astray.They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, the [spiritual] shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?

Therefore, you [spiritual] shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “certainly because My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

therefore, you [spiritual] shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and make them stop tending the flock, so that the shepherds cannot feed themselves anymore. I will rescue My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

And he said,“The Lord thunders and roars from Zion [in judgment]And utters His voice from Jerusalem;Then the pastures of the shepherds mourn,And the summit of [Mount] Carmel dries up [because of God’s judgment].”

This One [the Messiah] shall be our peace.When the Assyrian invades our landAnd tramples on our citadels and in our palaces,Then shall we raise against himSeven shepherds and eight princes [an overpowering force] among men.

Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria;Your nobles are lying down [in death].Your people are scattered on the mountainsAnd there is no one to gather them.

So the [depopulated] seacoast shall be pastures,With [deserted] meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.

“My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds],And I shall punish the male goats (leaders);For the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),And will make them like His beautiful and majestic horse in the battle.

There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,For their splendor (grazing land) is ruined;There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

whose buyers slay them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them nor protect them [from the wolves].

Then I eliminated the three [incompetent, unfit] shepherds [the civil rulers, the priests, and the prophets] in one month, for I was impatient with them, and they also were tired of me and despised me.

In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

and all who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct],