people. ‘I will place44 shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified (<√ḥātat qal, 1:17), nor will any be missing,’ declares the LORD. The shepherds will ‘tend them’/‘shepherd them’ not just in name but in reality. This will lead to a decisive break with the past, marked by the use of ‘no longer’. As a result of the new regime provided by God the people will be freed from living in fear (<√yārēʾ, ‘to fear), unable to function properly through terror.