Then his people remembered Moses and the distant past. Where is the one who brought them out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put his Holy Spirit in them?
Listen! The shepherds are crying, because their rich pastures are destroyed. Listen! The young lions are roaring, because the lush banks of the Jordan are destroyed.
Those who buy them will kill them and go unpunished. Those who sell them will say, “Praise the Lord! I’ve become rich!” Even their own shepherds will have no pity on them.
“Arise, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my friend,” declares the Lord of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Then I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to be shepherds for God’s church which he acquired with his own blood.
The hidden meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.