⁴Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flock^b doomed to slaughter. ⁵The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. ⁶For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” declares^c Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”

⁷And I shepherded the flock^d doomed to slaughter, even^e the afflicted^f of the flock.^g I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.^h ⁸And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for I grew impatientⁱ with them, and they also became tired of me.^j ⁹So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour the flesh of each other.”^k ¹⁰And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I had made^l with all the peoples. ¹¹And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted^m of the flock,ⁿ the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh. ¹²And I said to them, “If it seems right to you,^o give me my wages, but if not, keep them.”^p And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels. ¹³And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”^q this noble price^r at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potter^s in the house of Yahweh. ¹⁴Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements^t of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,^u he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the fattened ones^v and tear apart even their hoofs.

¹⁷“Woe, my worthless shepherd

who deserts the flock!^w

May a sword fall on his arm

and on his right eye!^x

May his arm wither completely

and his right eye^y be utterly blinded!”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “cypress”
bThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
cLiterally “declaration of”
dThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
eHebrew “therefore”
fLXX reads “merchants of the flock” which is reflected in some English translations
gThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
hThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
iLiterally “my soul became short”
jLiterally “also their soul detested me”
kLiterally “each the flesh of her neighbor”
lLiterally “had cut”
mLXX reads “merchants (of the flock)” which is reflected in some English translations
nThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
oLiterally “it is good in your eyes”
pLiterally “refrain”
qSyriac reads “treasury,” followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV
rLiterally “the price of honor”
sSyriac reads “treasury,” followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV
tHebrew “implement”
uSyriac and other ancient versions read “the wandering” or “the scattered,” as do several English translations
vLiterally “the stall-fed”
wThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
xLiterally “the eye of his right”
yLiterally “the eye of his right”