1 O pen, O Lebanon, thy doors, And fire doth devour among thy cedars.

Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may destroy your cedars!

2 H owl, O fir, for fallen hath the cedar, For their honourable ones were destroyed, Howl, ye oaks of Bashan, For come down hath the fenced forest,

Cry in sorrow, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen. The beautiful trees have been destroyed. Cry in sorrow, O oaks of Bashan, for the many trees have fallen.

3 A voice of the howling of the shepherds! For destroyed was their robe of honour, A voice of the roaring of young lions! For destroyed was the excellency of Jordan.

Listen to the cry of the shepherds, for their great land is laid waste. Listen to the sound of the young lions, for the trees along the valley of the Jordan River lay waste. The Two Shepherds

4 T hus said Jehovah my God: `Feed the flock of the slaughter,

The Lord my God said, “Take care of the flock that is to be killed.

5 W hose buyers slay them, and are not guilty, And their sellers say, Blessed Jehovah, And I am rich, And their shepherds have no pity on them.

Those who buy them kill them and are not punished. And those who sell them say, ‘Thanks and honor be to the Lord, for I have become rich!’ Their own shepherds have no pity on them.

6 F or I have pity no more on inhabitants of the land, An affirmation of Jehovah, And lo, I am causing man to come forth, Each into the hand of his neighbour, And into the hand of his king, And they have beaten down the land, And I do not deliver out of their hand.'

For I will no longer have pity on the people who live in this land,” says the Lord. “I will give everyone over to the power of his neighbor and his king. They will bring trouble to the land, and I will not save them from their power.”

7 A nd I feed the flock of slaughter, even you, ye afflicted of the flock; and I take to me two staves, the one I have called Pleasantness, and the other I have called Bands, and I feed the flock.

So I took care of the flock that was to be killed, and those of the flock who suffered. I took two walking sticks. One I called Favor, and the other I called Agreement. I took care of the flock.

8 A nd I cut off the three shepherds in one month, and my soul is grieved with them, and also their soul hath abhorred me.

I destroyed the three shepherds in one month. I was angry with them, and they hated me.

9 A nd I say, `I do not feed you, the dying, let die; and the cut off, let be cut off; and the remaining ones, let each eat the flesh of its neighbour.'

Then I said, “I will not take care of you. Let those die who are to die. And what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”

10 A nd I take My staff Pleasantness, and cut it asunder, to make void My covenant that I had made with all the peoples:

And I took my walking stick Favor and cut it in pieces, to break the agreement I had made with all the people.

11 a nd it is broken in that day, and know well do the afflicted of the flock who are observing me, that it a word of Jehovah.

So it was broken on that day. And those of the flock who suffered and were watching me knew that it was the Word of the Lord.

12 A nd I say unto them: `If good in your eyes, give my hire, and if not, forbear;' and they weigh out my hire -- thirty silverlings.

I said to them, “If you think it is right, give me my pay. But if not, keep it.” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my pay.

13 A nd Jehovah saith unto me, `Cast it unto the potter;' the goodly price that I have been prized at by them, and I take the thirty silverlings, and cast them the house of Jehovah, unto the potter.

Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the one who makes pots—the great price they thought I was worth.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the pot maker in the house of the Lord.

14 A nd I cut asunder my second staff, Bands, to break the unity between Judah and Israel.

Then I cut my second walking stick, Agreement, in pieces, to break the agreement between Judah and Israel.

15 A nd Jehovah saith unto me, `Again take to thee the instrument of a foolish shepherd.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the tools of a foolish shepherd.

16 F or lo, I am raising up a shepherd in the land, The cut off he doth not inspect, The shaken off he doth not seek, And the broken he doth not heal, The standing he doth not sustain, And the flesh of the fat he doth eat, And their hoofs he doth break off.

For I am going to have a shepherd rule over the land who will not care for the dying. He will not look for those who were sent everywhere or heal the hurt, or feed those who are well. But he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their feet.

17 W o the worthless shepherd, forsaking the flock, A sword on his arm, and on his right eye, His arm is utterly dried up, And his right eye is very dim!'

It is bad for the shepherd who has no worth and who leaves the flock! A sword will destroy his arm and his right eye! His arm will be all dried up, and his right eye will be blind.”