¹ Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars!

² Wail, O juniper,¹ for the cedar has fallen, for the magnificent trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down!

1. Or “cypress”

³ 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 Two Shepherds

⁴ Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flock¹ doomed to slaughter.

1. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)

⁵ 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.

⁶ For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” ⌞declares⌟¹ Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”

1. Literally “declaration of”

⁷ And I shepherded the flock¹ doomed to slaughter, even² the afflicted³ of the flock.⁴ I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.⁵

1. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
2. Hebrew “therefore”
3. LXX reads “merchants of the flock” which is reflected in some English translations
4. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
5. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)

⁸ And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for ⌞I grew impatient⌟¹ with them, and ⌞they also became tired of me⌟.²

1. Literally “my soul became short”
2. Literally “also their soul detested me”

⁹ So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour ⌞the flesh of each other⌟.”¹

1. Literally “each the flesh of her neighbor”

¹⁰ And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I ⌞had made⌟¹ with all the peoples.

1. Literally “had cut”

¹¹ And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted¹ of the flock,² the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh.

1. LXX reads “merchants (of the flock)” which is reflected in some English translations
2. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)

¹² And I said to them, “If ⌞it seems right to you⌟,¹ give me my wages, but if not, ⌞keep them⌟.”² And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels.

1. Literally “it is good in your eyes”
2. Literally “refrain”

¹³ And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”¹ ⌞this noble price⌟² at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potter³ in the house of Yahweh.

1. Syriac reads “treasury,” followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV
2. Literally “the price of honor”
3. Syriac reads “treasury,” followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements¹ of a foolish shepherd.

1. Hebrew “implement”

¹⁶ For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,¹ he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the ⌞fattened ones⌟² and tear apart even their hoofs.

1. Syriac and other ancient versions read “the wandering” or “the scattered,” as do several English translations
2. Literally “the stall-fed”

¹⁷ “Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock!¹ May a sword fall on his arm and on ⌞his right eye⌟!² May his arm wither completely and ⌞his right eye⌟³ be utterly blinded!”

1. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
2. Literally “the eye of his right”
3. Literally “the eye of his right”