² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves!^(A) Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?

³¹ You are my flock, the human flock of my pasture, and I am your God. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”^(A)

⁵ Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished.^(A) Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord because I have become rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them. ⁶ Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, I will turn everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue it from their hand.”^(B)

⁷ So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter, the oppressed of the flock.^[a] I took two staffs, calling one Favor^(C) and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.

¹⁵ The Lord also said to me, “Take the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, and he will not seek the lost^[a] or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy,^[b] but he will devour the flesh of the fat sheep^(A) and tear off their hooves.