The Doomed Flock

1Open, O Lebanon, your doors,

that fire may devour your cedars!

2Wail, O cypress,† for the cedar has fallen,

for the mighty ones are ruined!

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

for forest the dense has gone down.

3A voice of wailing is among the shepherds,

for their glory is in ruins

a voice of the roaring of lions,

for the height of the Jordan has been devastated.

4Thus says YHWH my God: “Shepherd the flock of the slaughter. 5Those who are buying them will slaughter them, and they will not be held guilty; and those selling them will say, ‘Blessed be YHWH, for I have become rich.’ And their own shepherds have no compassion on them.

6So I will not have compassion any longer on those dwelling in the land, a declaration of YHWH, and behold, I am causing to come forth mankind—each man into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king—and they will crush the land, and I will not deliver from their hand.”

7And I pastured the flock of slaughter, the afflicted of the flock, and I took for myself two staffs—to one I called Favor, and to one I called Union—and I pastured the flock. 8And I cut off the three shepherds in one month,

and My soul became short with them, and also their soul felt loathing for me. 9And I said, “I will not shepherd you⁺. The one dying, let die, and the one cut off, let it be cut off. And those remaining, let each one eat the flesh of its neighbor!”

Thirty Pieces of Silver
(Matthew 27:3–10)

10And I took my staff Favor, and cut† it in two, to break apart the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11And it was broken on that day, so the afflicted of the flock watching me knew that it was the word of YHWH.

12And I said to them, “If it is good to you⁺, give me my wage; and if not, forgo it.” And they weighed out my wage, thirty of silver.

13And YHWH said to me, “Throw it to the potter,” the magnificent price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty of silver, and I threw it into the house of YHWH, to the potter.

14And I cut in two my second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and between Israel.

15And YHWH said to me, “Again take for yourself the implement of a foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land: Those being cut off he will not attend to; the young one he will not seek, and the one being broken he will not heal. The one standing still he will not sustain, and the flesh of the fat one he will devour, and their hooves he will tear off!

17Woe to the worthless shepherd,

leaving behind the flock.

May a sword be against his arm

and against his right eye.

May his arm completely wither,

and his right eye be exceedingly!”