| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedar forests. | 1Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars! |
| 2Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the most majestic ones have fallen. Weep, you oaks of Bashan, for the thick forests have been cut down. | 2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down! |
| 3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their rich pastures are destroyed. Hear the young lions roaring, for their thickets in the Jordan Valley are ruined. The Good and Evil Shepherds | 3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed. |
| 4This is what the LORD my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter. | 4This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter, |
| 5The buyers slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers say, ‘Praise the LORD! Now I’m rich!’ Even the shepherds have no compassion for them. | 5whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them. |
| 6Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” says the LORD. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not rescue them.” | 6For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.” |
| 7So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter—the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs and named one Favor and the other Union. | 7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. |
| 8I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too. | 8And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me. |
| 9So I told them, “I won’t be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you are killed, you are killed. And let those who remain devour each other!” | 9Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.” |
| 10Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations. | 10Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. |
| 11That was the end of my covenant with them. The suffering flock was watching me, and they knew that the LORD was speaking through my actions. | 11It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD. |
| 12And I said to them, “If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.” So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. | 12Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. |
| 13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter ”—this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the LORD. | 13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. |
| 14Then I took my other staff, Union, and cut it in two, showing that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken. | 14Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. |
| 15Then the LORD said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd. | 15And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. |
| 16This illustrates how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for those who are dying, nor look after the young, nor heal the injured, nor feed the healthy. Instead, this shepherd will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves. | 16For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves. |
| 17“What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye. His arm will become useless, and his right eye completely blind.” | 17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!” |
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