Desolation of Israel

Prophecy of the Shepherds

4Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them. 6For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [b]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”

7So I fed the flock for slaughter, [c]in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [d]Beauty, and the other I called [e]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8I [f]dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9Then I said, “I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10And I took my staff, [g]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11So it was broken on that day. Thus the[h] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12Then I said to them, “If it is [i]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14Then I cut in two my other staff, [j]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.