The Doomed Flock

1Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

2Howl, fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are laid waste: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

3There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is laid waste.

4Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

7And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took to me two staffs; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. 8Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat, every one the flesh of another.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

(Matthew 26:14-16; Matthew 27:3-10; Mark 14:10-11)

10And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. 12And I said to them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13And the LORD said to me, Cast it to the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 14Then I cut asunder my other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15And the LORD said to me, Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16For lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit those that are cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

17Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be wholly dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.