Demonstrations

³ But those pastors who did not care for the sheep, those were hirelings who used to feed themselves alone. On this account the Prophet addresses them, saying to them:— O you pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Lo! I will visit My sheep as the pastor visits his flock in the day of the whirlwind, and I will require My sheep at your hands. O foolish pastors, with the wool of the sheep you clothe yourselves, and the flesh of the fatlings you eat, and the sheep you do not feed.

That which was sick you did not heal, and that which was broken you did not bind. The weak you did not strengthen, and the lost and the scattered you did not gather together. The strong ones and the fatlings you guarded, but with harshness you subdued them. The good pastures you yourselves graze upon, and what remains you trample with your feet. The pleasant waters do you drink, and whatever remains you defile with your feet. And My sheep have eaten the trampled (herbage) which your feet have trampled, and they have drunk the waters which your feet have defiled.</em> These are the greedy and base pastors and hirelings, who did not feed the sheep, or guide them well, or deliver them from the wolves.

But when the Great Pastor, the chief of pastors, shall come, He will call and visit His sheep and will take knowledge of His flock. And He will bring forward those pastors, and will exact an account from them, and will condemn them for their deeds. And those who fed the sheep well, them the Chief of Pastors will cause to rejoice and to inherit life and rest. O stupid and foolish pastor, to whose right hand and to whose right eye I committed my sheep. Because you said concerning the sheep, let that which dies, die, and let that which perishes perish, and whatever is left, let them devour the flesh of one another; therefore, behold I will make blind your right eye and I will wither up your right arm.

Your eye which regarded a bribe shall be blinded, and your hand which did not rule in righteousness shall waste away. And as for you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, you are men; but I am the Lord your God. Behold henceforth will feed you in a good and rich pasture.