Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate,” says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ¹  I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

The hired hand, ¹  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ²  the sheep and runs away. ³  So the wolf attacks ⁴  the sheep and scatters them.

Then she gave birth ¹  to his brother Abel. ²  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ 

So build cities for your descendants and pens for your sheep, but do what you have said ¹  you would do.”

For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture, the sheep he owns. ¹  Today, if only you would obey him! ² 

Our storehouses ¹  will be full, providing all kinds of food. ²  Our sheep will multiply by the thousands and fill ³  our pastures. ⁴ 

The Beloved to the Maidens: My beloved has gone down to his garden, ¹  to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, ²  to graze ³  in the gardens, and to gather lilies. ⁴ 

The Beloved about Her Lover: I am my lover’s ¹  and my lover is mine; ²  he grazes among the lilies.

In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; ¹  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. ¹  Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. ² 

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ¹  will take possession of it. ²  By the sea ³  they ⁴  will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the Lord their God will intervene for them ⁵  and restore their prosperity. ⁶ 

Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ¹ 

Issachar is a strong-boned donkey lying down between two saddlebags.

So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. ¹  After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp ²  as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry.

He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.

Flocks and herds ¹  will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. ²  Owls ³  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. ⁴  Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁵  even the cedar work ⁶  will be exposed to the elements. ⁷ 

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ¹  will gather. ² 

“You must exact ¹  a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of five hundred, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep.

¹ Now the Reubenites and the Gadites possessed a very large number of cattle. When they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideal for cattle, ²