63.  Who is so bold and adamantine of soul as not to tremble and be abashed at the charges and reproaches deliberately urged against the rest of the shepherds.  A voice, he says, of the howling of the shepherds, for their glory is spoiled.  A voice of the roaring of lions,194    Zech. xi. 3. for this hath befallen them.  Does he not all but hear the wailing as if close at hand, and himself wail with the afflicted.  A little further is a more striking and impassioned strain.  Feed, he says, the flock of slaughter, whose possessors slay them without repentance, and they that sell them say, “Blessed be the Lord, for we are rich:”  and their own shepherds are without feeling for them.  Therefore, I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord Almighty.195    Zech. xi. 5, 6.  And again:  Awake, O sword, against the shepherds, and smite the shepherds, and scatter the sheep, and I will turn My Hand upon the shepherds;196    Ib. xiii. 7. and, Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit the lambs:197    Ib. x. 3.  adding to the threat those who rule over the people.  So industriously does he apply himself to his task that he cannot easily free himself from denunciations, and I am afraid that, did I refer to the whole series, I should exhaust your patience.  This must then suffice for Zechariah.

ΞΓʹ. Ἃ δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν κατηγορεῖ ποιμένων ἐπιμελῶς καὶ καθάπτεται, τίς οὕτω τολμηρὸς καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀδαμάντινος, ὥστε μὴ τρέμειν ἀκούων, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ γίνεσθαι μετριώτερος; Φωνὴ, φησὶ, θρηνούντων ποιμένων, ὅτι τεταλαιπώρηκεν ἡ μεγαλοσύνη αὐτῶν: φωνὴ ὠρυομένων λεόντων, ὅτι τάδε πεπόνθασι. Μονονοὺ κἀκούει τῶν θρήνων ὡς ἤδη παρόντων, καὶ συνθρηνεῖ τοῖς πάσχουσιν. Ἔτι δὲ μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν πληκτικώτερον καὶ σφοδρότερον: Ποιμαίνετε, φησὶ, τὰ πρόβατα τῆς σφαγῆς, ἃ οἱ κτησάμενοι κατέσφαζον, καὶ οὐ μετεμελοῦντο: καὶ οἱ πωλοῦντες αὐτὰ ἔλεγον. Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος, καὶ πεπλουτήκαμεν: καὶ οἱ ποιμένες αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔπασχον οὐδὲν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Διὰ τοῦτο οὐ φείσομαι οὐκ ἔτι ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ: καὶ πάλιν: Ῥομφαία, ἐξεγέρθητι ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιμένας, καὶ πατάξατε τοὺς ποιμένας, καὶ ἐκσπάσατε τὰ πρόβατα: καὶ, ἐπάξω τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιμένας, καὶ ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός μου ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιμένας, καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀμνοὺς ἐπισκέψομαι: προστιθεὶς ἤδη τῇ ἀπειλῇ καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τοὺς προέχοντας. Οὕτω φιλοπόνως προσκαθέζεται τῷ λόγῳ καὶ οὐδὲ ἀπαλλαγῆναι δύναται ῥᾳδίως τῶν ἀπειλῶν: ὥστε δέδοικα μὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπευκτὸς ὦ οὕτως.