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11 Lebanon, open your ·gates [doors]
    so fire may ·burn [consume; devour] your cedar trees.
    ·Cry [Wail], pine trees, because the cedar has fallen,
    because the ·tall [majestic; glorious] trees are ruined.
·Cry [Wail], oaks in Bashan,
    because the ·mighty [thick; dense] forest has been cut down [C trees probably symbolize wicked rulers].
Listen to the shepherds ·crying [wailing]
    because their ·rich pastures [or glory; magnificence] are destroyed.
Listen to the lions roaring
    because the ·lovely land [lush thicket] of the Jordan River is ruined.

The Two Shepherds

This is what the Lord my God says: “·Feed [Shepherd] the flock that are ·about to be killed [set aside for slaughter]. Their buyers ·kill [slaughter] them and ·are not punished [are not held liable; or feel no remorse]. Those who sell them say, ‘·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord, I am rich.’ Even the shepherds don’t ·feel sorry for [have compassion on; or spare] their sheep. I don’t ·feel sorry [have compassion] anymore for the ·people [inhabitants] of this country,” says the Lord. “I will let everyone ·be under the power [L fall into the hand] of his neighbor and king. They will ·bring trouble to [devastate] the country, and I will not save anyone from ·them [L their hand].”

So I ·fed [shepherded] the flock ·about to be killed [marked for slaughter], particularly the ·weakest [oppressed] ones. Then I took two ·sticks [staffs]; I called one ·Pleasant [or Favor] and the other Union, and I ·fed [shepherded] the flock. In one month I got rid of three shepherds. The flock ·did not pay attention to [or detested; loathed] me, and I ·got impatient [grew weary] with them. I said, “I will no longer ·take care of you like a shepherd [shepherd you]. Let those that are dying die, and let those that are ·to be destroyed be destroyed [perishing perish]. Let those that are left eat ·each other [L the flesh of his neighbor].”

10 Then I broke the ·stick [staff] named ·Pleasant [or Favor] to ·break [revoke] the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] God made with all the ·nations [peoples]. 11 That day it was ·broken [revoked]. The ·weak [oppressed] ones in the flock who were watching me knew this ·message was from [L was the word of] the Lord.

12 Then I said, “If ·you want [it seems right to you; L it is good in your eyes] to pay me, pay me. If not, ·then don’t [keep it].” So they ·paid [weighed out to] me thirty pieces of silver [Ex. 21:32; Matt. 26:15].

13 The Lord said to me, “Throw the money to the potter.” ·That is how little they thought I was worth […this magnificent price at which they valued me”; C sarcastic, since the sum was about the cost of a slave]. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord [Matt. 27:9, 10].

14 Then I broke the second ·stick [staff], named Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, “·Get the things used by a foolish shepherd again, 16 because [L look; T behold] I am going to ·get [raise up] a new shepherd for the country. He will not care for the ·dying sheep [lost; perishing], or look for the young ones, or heal the injured ones, or feed the healthy. But he will ·eat [devour the flesh of] the ·best [fat] sheep and tear off their hoofs.

17 “·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] the ·useless [worthless] shepherd
    who abandoned the flock.
A sword will strike his arm and his right eye.
    His arm will ·lose all its strength [wither away],
    and his right eye will go blind.”

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