'Shepherds' in the Bible
Then Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there not be quarreling between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we men [are] brothers.
And the men [are] shepherds, for they are men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their cattle and all that they have.'
And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
And they said, "An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew [water] for us and watered the flock."
And your children will be shepherds in the desert forty years, and you will bear your unfaithfulness until {all your corpses have fallen} in the desert.
Now there was a man from the servants of Saul on that day, detained before Yahweh, whose name [was] Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.
Now I have heard that {you have shearers}. Now while your shepherds [were] with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs [was] missing, all the days they were in Carmel.
Then he arose and went and came to Samaria. On the way, he was [at] Beth-Eked of the shepherds,
If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow {the tracks} of the flock, and pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the shepherds.
It will not be inhabited forever, and it will not be dwelled in {forever}; and no Arab will pitch a tent there, and shepherds will not allow [their flocks] to lie down there.
For Yahweh said this to me: "As which lion growls and young lion over its prey when {a full group} of shepherds is called against him, it is not terrified by their voice, and to their noise it does not respond, so Yahweh of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.
And the dogs {have a greedy appetite}; they {are never satisfied}. And they are [the] shepherds! They do not have understanding. They all turn to their [own] way, each one for his [own] gain, {every one of them}.
Then his people remembered the days of old, [of] Moses. Where [is] the one who led up them from [the] sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where [is] the one who puts {his Holy Spirit} inside him,
The priests did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have {rebelled against me}, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after [things which] do not profit.
Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight.
Shepherds and their flocks will come against her, they will pitch [their] tents against her all around, they will pasture, each his {portion}.
For the shepherds have become stupid, they do not seek Yahweh. {Therefore} they do not have insight, and all of their flock are scattered.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my plot of land. They have made {my pleasant field} like the desert of desolation.
All your shepherds will shepherd [the] wind, and your lovers will go into captivity. Yes, then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.
"Woe [to the] shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture," {declares} Yahweh.
{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I [will] punish you [for] the evil of your deeds," {declares} Yahweh.
And I will raise up over them shepherds, and they will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear, and they will not be dismayed, and they will not be missing," {declares} Yahweh.
Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. And roll about in mourning [in the dust], O leaders of the flock. For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived, and you will fall like a vessel of desire.
And flight will perish from the shepherds, and escape from the leaders of the flock.
A sound, the cry of distress of the shepherds and the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for Yahweh [is] despoiling their pasture.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Again there will be in this waste place, {without} people and animals, and in all its towns, pasture for shepherds allowing [their] flock to lie down.
My people have become lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They led them away [to the] mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their resting place.
"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Woe [to] the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock?
"{As I live}," {declares} the Lord Yahweh, "{Surely} because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to all the animals of the field, since there was not a shepherd, [since] my shepherds [have] not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,'"
'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will {no longer} feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them."
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, two years {before} the earthquake.
And he said, "Yahweh roars from Zion and he utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither and the top of Carmel dries up."
And this one will be peace. [As for] the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads on our fortresses, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
Your shepherds are sleeping, king of Assyria! Your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains; no one can gather them.
And you, O region of the sea, shall become pastures [and] meadows [for] shepherds and sheep pens [for the] flocks.
{My anger burns} against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders, because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock, the house of Judah; and he will make them like his majestic horse in war.
[Listen to] the wailing of the shepherds, for their splendor is ruined! [Listen to] the roar of [the] young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!
The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed [be] Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for {I grew impatient} with them, and {they also became tired of me}.