For the strong forest has come down.
3 A voice of the wailing of the shepherds!
For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions!
For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
4 Thus says Yahweh my God: “Feed the flock of slaughter. 5 Their buyers
slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be
Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them. 6 For I
will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I
will deliver the men everyone into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of
his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver
them.”
7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock.
I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor,” and the other I
called “Union,” and I fed the flock. 8 I cut off the three shepherds in
one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that
which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat
each other’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I
might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 It was
broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew
that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 I said to them, “If you think it
best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages
thirty pieces of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,
the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I
cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood
between Judah and Israel.
15 Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a
foolish shepherd. 16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land,
who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are
scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but
he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be
on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and
his right eye will be totally blinded!”
World English Bible - Public Domain
