What Does the Bible Say About Being A Shepherd?

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

John 10:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

1 Peter 5:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

Matthew 9:36 ESV / 5 helpful votes

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

1 Peter 2:25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Acts 20:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

1 Peter 5:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

1 Peter 5:1-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ...

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Ephesians 4:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

John 10:1-42 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ...

Zechariah 13:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Ezekiel 34:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

Isaiah 40:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Psalm 23:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

1 Chronicles 11:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’”

2 Peter 2:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ...

1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Hebrews 13:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

Titus 1:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

Acts 20:1-38 ESV / 2 helpful votes

After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, ...

John 21:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

John 21:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

John 10:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

John 10:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

John 10:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

John 10:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Matthew 25:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Matthew 2:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Zechariah 11:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”

Zechariah 11:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

Zechariah 11:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.

Ezekiel 34:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

Ezekiel 34:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; ...

Jeremiah 50:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.

Isaiah 53:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 40:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ...

Isaiah 13:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.

Psalm 80:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

Psalm 79:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 78:71 ESV / 2 helpful votes

From following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance.

Psalm 49:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

Psalm 28:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Job 27:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And Job again took up his discourse, and said: “As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. ...

2 Samuel 5:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’”

Genesis 49:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

Genesis 20:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” ...

47 Bible Verses about Being A Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 9:36 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 2:25 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 20:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:1-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:1-42 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 13:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ezekiel 34:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 40:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 23:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Chronicles 11:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Peter 2:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 13:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 1:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 20:1-38 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 21:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 21:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 10:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 25:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 2:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 11:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 11:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 11:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ezekiel 34:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ezekiel 34:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jeremiah 50:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 53:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 40:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 13:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 80:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 79:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 78:71 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 49:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 28:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Job 27:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Samuel 5:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 49:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 20:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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