CHAPTER 11
Wail,
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!
Listen to
the wail
of the shepherds,
for
their glory
is in ruins.
Listen to the howl
of the young lions,
for
the thickets
of the Jordan
are destroyed.
whose
buyers
slaughter them
without
remorse.
Those who sell them
say,
‘Praise
the LORD,
for I am rich!’
Even their own shepherds
have no
compassion
for them.
For
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 hand
of his neighbor
and
of his king,
who will devastate
the land,
and I will not
deliver it
from their hands.”
So 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.
And in one
month
I dismissed
three
shepherds.
My soul
grew impatient
with the flock,
and their souls
also
detested
me.
Then I said,
“I will no longer
shepherd you.
Let the dying
die,
and the perishing
perish;
let the rest
devour
one
another's
flesh.”
Next I took
my staff
called Favor
and cut it in two,
revoking
the covenant
I had made
with
all
the nations.
It was revoked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.
Then 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.
And 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.
Then I cut in pieces
my second
staff
called Union,
breaking
the brotherhood
between
Judah
and Israel.
For
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.
“Woe
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!”