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¹ Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.² Wail, O cypress-tree, for the cedar is fallen; because the glorious ones are spoiled; wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is come down.³ Hark! the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled; Hark! the roaring of young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are spoiled.

⁴ Thus said the LORD my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter;⁵ whose buyers slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say: Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.⁶ For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.'⁷ So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Graciousness, and the other I called Binders; and I fed the flock.⁸ And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; 'for My soul became impatient of them, and their soul also loathed Me.'⁹ Then said I: 'I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.'¹⁰ And I took my staff Graciousness, and cut it asunder, 'that I might break My covenant which I had made with all the peoples.'¹¹ And it was broken in that day; and the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew of a truth that it was the word of the LORD. ¹² And I said unto them: 'If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear.' So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver.¹³ And the LORD said unto me: 'Cast it into the treasury, the goodly price that I was prized at of them.' And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the treasury, in the house of the LORD.¹⁴ Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Binders, that the brotherhood between Judah and Israel might be broken.

¹⁵ And the LORD said unto me: 'Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.¹⁶ For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not think of those that are cut off, neither will seek those that are young, nor heal that which is broken; neither will he feed that which standeth still, but he will eat the flesh of the fat, and will break their hoofs in pieces.'¹⁷ Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.