Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars.

Confortabo eos in Domino, et in nomine ejus ambulabunt, dicit Dominus.

Fling thy gates wide, Lebanon, for the fire to come in, and devour thy cedars!

Howl, thou fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the mighty are laid waste: howl, ye oaks of Basan, because the fenced forest is cut down.

Aperi, Libane, portas tuas, et comedat ignis cedros tuas.

Lament, neighbour pine-tree, for cedar overthrown; here be lordly ones plundered; lament, oaks of Basan, for the secret forest that is cut down!

The voice of the howling of the shepherds, because their glory is laid waste: the voice of the roaring of the lions, because the pride of the Jordan is spoiled.

Ulula, abies, quia cecidit cedrus, quoniam magnifici vastati sunt: ululate, quercus Basan, quoniam succisus est saltus munitus.

Hark, how the shepherd-folk lament, their fine mantle gone, how roars lion for the thickets of Jordan stripped!

Thus saith the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,

Vox ululatus pastorum, quia vastata est magnificentia eorum: vox rugitus leonum, quoniam vastata est superbia Jordanis.

This message the Lord my God sent me: To this flock that is a-fattening for slaughter thou must play the shepherd.

Which they that possessed, slew, and repented not, and they sold them, saying: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich: and their shepherds spared them not.

Hæc dicit Dominus Deus meus: Pasce pecora occisionis,

What, would they slay without remorse, yonder lords of the flock, sell carcase, and thank the Lord that so enriches them; are there shepherds so unmerciful?

And I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: behold I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall destroy the land, and I will not deliver it out of their hand.

quæ qui possederant occidebant, et non dolebant, et vendebant ea, dicentes: Benedictus Dominus! divites facti sumus: et pastores eorum non parcebant eis.

Nay, I will be unmerciful too, the Lord says, to all that dwell on earth; I will leave every son of Adam at the mercy of his neighbour, or the king that rules over him; broken and bowed the land shall be, and no redress shall they have from me henceforward!

And I will feed the flock of slaughter for this, O ye poor of the flock. And I took unto me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other I called a Cord, and I fed the flock.

Et ego non parcam ultra super habitantes terram, dicit Dominus: ecce ego tradam homines, unumquemque in manu proximi sui, et in manu regis sui: et concident terram, et non eruam de manu eorum.

Poor sheep fattening for slaughter, take charge of your flock I must; and two staves I made me, for the better tending of it, one I called Beauty, and the other Cords.

And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was straitened in their regard: for their soul also varied in my regard.

Et pascam pecus occisionis propter hoc, o pauperes gregis! et assumpsi mihi duas virgas: unam vocavi Decorem, et alteram vocavi Funiculum: et pavi gregem.

Before a month was up, of three shepherds I had rid them, yet had I no patience with them, and they of me grew no less weary.

And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour.

Et succidi tres pastores in mense uno, et contracta est anima mea in eis, siquidem et anima eorum variavit in me.

No more will I tend you, said I; perish all of you that will perish, be lost all that will be lost; and for the residue, let them devour one another; I care not.

And I took my rod that was called Beauty, and I cut it asunder to make void my covenant, which I had made with all people.

Et dixi: Non pascam vos: quod moritur, moriatur, et quod succiditur, succidatur: et reliqui devorent unusquisque carnem proximi sui.

With that, I took up the staff I called Beauty, and cut it in two; in token that my covenant with all the world should be null.

And it was made void in that day: and so the poor of the flock that keep for me, understood that it is the word of the Lord.

Et tuli virgam meam quæ vocabatur Decus, et abscidi eam, ut irritum facerem fœdus meum quod percussi cum omnibus populis.

Null it was thenceforward; and doubt they might not, the starvelings of the flock that looked up to me, the Lord’s word had come to them.

And I said to them: If it be good in your eyes, bring hither my wages: and if not, be quiet. And they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

Et in irritum deductum est in die illa: et cognoverunt sic pauperes gregis, qui custodiunt mihi, quia verbum Domini est.

… And now, said I, pay me my wages, if pay you will; if not, say no more. So they paid me for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, a handsome price, that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord to the statuary.

Et dixi ad eos: Si bonum est in oculis vestris, afferte mercedem meam: et si non, quiescite. Et appenderunt mercedem meam triginta argenteos.

Why, the Lord said, here is a princely sum they rate me at! Throw it to the craftsman yonder. So there, in the Lord’s temple, I threw the craftsman my thirty pieces of silver …

And I cut off my second rod that was called a Cord, that I might break the brotherhood between Juda and Israel.

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Projice illud ad statuarium, decorum pretium quo appretiatus sum ab eis. Et tuli triginta argenteos, et projeci illos in domum Domini, ad statuarium.

Then I took my other staff, Cords, and cut it in two; in token that all brotherhood was at an end between Juda and Israel.

And the Lord said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

Et præcidi virgam meam secundam, quæ appellabatur Funiculus, ut dissolverem germanitatem inter Judam et Israël.

And the Lord said, Gear of a foolish shepherd thou must take to thee now.

For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of the fat ones, and break their hoofs.

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Adhuc sume tibi vasa pastoris stulti.

See if I do not find me such a shepherd for this land of theirs, as will leave lost sheep uncounted, strayed sheep unsought, hurt sheep unhealed; and such as are left whole, feed he will not, but eat ever the fattest of them, tearing only the hoofs away.

O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Quia ecce ego suscitabo pastorem in terra, qui derelicta non visitabit, dispersum non quæret, et contritum non sanabit, et id quod stat non enutriet, et carnes pinguium comedet, et ungulas eorum dissolvet.

Out upon the false shepherd that abandons his flock! Sword shall pierce the arm of him, and the right eye of him, till arm is withered and eye darkened quite.