The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.

But you, Lord, know all about me. You watch me and test my devotion to you. ¹  Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered! Appoint a time when they will be killed! ² 

So, watch out!” ¹  says the Lord. “The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley ²  the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room. ³ 

So I, the Lord, say: ¹  “The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valley ²  the Valley of Slaughter!

So I ¹  began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted ²  of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, ³  calling one “Pleasantness” ⁴  and the other “Binders,” ⁵  and I tended the flock.