Verse 12

The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Pet 2:3 : 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep.
  • Isa 56:10-12 : 10 All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze. 11 The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain. 12 Each one says,‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’
  • Ezek 34:2-6 : 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them– to the shepherds:‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.
  • Zech 11:16-17 : 16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither completely away, and his right eye become completely blind!”
  • Matt 7:15 : 15 A Tree and Its Fruit“Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.
  • Matt 10:16 : 16 Persecution of Disciples“I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
  • John 10:3 : 3 The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
  • Acts 20:29 : 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
  • 1 Tim 3:3 : 3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.
  • 1 Tim 3:8 : 8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not two-faced, not given to excessive drinking, not greedy for gain,
  • 2 Tim 4:10 : 10 For Demas deserted me, since he loved the present age, and he went to Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia.
  • Titus 1:7 : 7 For the overseer must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain.
  • 1 Pet 5:2 : 2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly.