1Open your doors, Lebanon,
so that fire may devour your cedars!
2Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan;
the dense forest has been cut down!
3Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;
the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!
Two Shepherds
4This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. 5Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
7So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
10Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
12I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
14Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”
1Lebanon, open your doors!
Then fire can burn up your cedar trees.
2Juniper trees, cry out!
The cedar trees have fallen down.
The majestic trees are destroyed.
Cry out, you oak trees of Bashan!
The thick forest has been cut down.
3Listen to the shepherds cry out!
Their rich grasslands are destroyed.
Listen to the lions roar!
The trees and bushes along the Jordan River are gone.
The Two Shepherds
4The Lord my God says, “Take care of the sheep that are set apart to be sacrificed. 5Those who buy them kill them. And they are not punished for it. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord! We’re rich!’ And their own shepherds do not spare them. 6I will no longer have pity on the people in the land,” announces the Lord. “I will hand all of them over to their neighbors and their king. They will destroy the land. And I will not save anyone from their power.”
7So I took care of the sheep set apart to be sacrificed. I took special care of those that had been treated badly. Then I got two shepherd’s staffs. I called one of them Favor. I called the other one Union. And I took care of the flock. 8In one month I got rid of three worthless shepherds.
The sheep hated me, and I got tired of them. 9So I said, “I won’t be your shepherd anymore. Let those of you who are dying die. Let those who are passing away pass away. Let those who are left eat one another up.”
10Then I got my staff called Favor. I broke it. That meant the covenant the Lord had made with all the nations was broken. 11It happened that day. The sheep that had been treated badly were watching me. They knew it was the Lord’s message.
12I told them, “If you think it is best, give me my pay. But if you don’t think so, keep it.” So they paid me 30 silver coins.
13The Lord said to me, “Throw those coins to the potter.” That amount shows how little they valued me! So I threw the 30 silver coins to the potter at the Lord’s temple.
14Then I broke my second staff called Union. That broke the family connection between Judah and Israel.
15The Lord said to me, “Now pretend to be a foolish shepherd. Get the things you need. 16I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land. He will not take care of those that are wounded. He will not look for the young ones. He will not heal those that are hurt. He will not feed the healthy ones. Instead, he will eat the best sheep. He will even tear their hooves off.
17“How terrible it will be for that worthless shepherd!
He deserts the flock.
May a sword strike his arm and his right eye!
May his powerful arm become weak!
May his right eye be totally blinded!”
