Destruction of Lebanon and Bashan

1Open your doors, Lebanon,

and fire will consume your cedars.a

2Wail, cypress tree,

for the cedar has fallen

while the stately trees are destroyed.

Wail, oak trees of Bashan,

for the old growth forest has been cut down.

3Hearb the wailing of the shepherds,

for the magnificence of the forestc is ruined!

Heard the roar of the lions,

for the Jordan’s arrogance is ruined!

The Shepherd

4This is what the LORD my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked fore slaughter. 5Their buyers slaughter them without being punished, continuing to sell them as they say, ‘Bless the LORD!’ and, ‘I’m rich!’ Meanwhile, their shepherds show them no compassion. 6Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land,” declares the LORD. “Look! I will deliver every single person into the controlf of his neighbor and into the controlg of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control.”h

7So I became shepherd of the flock marked fori slaughter, paying attention to the oppressed of the flock. I took two staffs—naming one “Pleasant” and the other one “Union”—and then I pastured the flock. 8In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me. 9So I said, “I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other.”

10Then I took the staff that I had named “Pleasant” and broke it, showing I was breaking my covenant that I had made with all of the people. 11It was broken at that timej so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the LORD.

12I told them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me what I’ve earned. But if it isn’t, don’t.”

So they paid out what I had earned—30 pieces of silver.k

13Then the LORD told me, “Throw the moneyl into the treasurym —that magnificent value they placed on me!”

So I took the 30 shekels ofn silver and threw them into the treasuryo of the Temple of the LORD. 14Then I broke my second staff—the one I had named “Union”—breaking the union between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.

God’s Curse on the Worthless Shepherd

15The LORD told me, “Pick up the tools of a worthless shepherd again, 16for I am now raising up a shepherd in the land who will neither search for the lost, nor care for the young, nor fix the broken, nor sustain the healthy. Instead, he will devour the meat of the best of the sheep, tearing off their hoofs.”

17“Woe to the worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm

and his right eye.

May his arm wither

and his right eye be completely blind.”