Jeremiah 25:22-38. Part of Jeremiah's prophecy about the fall of Judah. The Lord says that "evil is going forth from nation to nation and a great tempest is starting from the farthest parts of the earth!" Those slain in the coming destruction will not be lamented, or even buried. The shepherds and lords of the flock will wail, for the days of their slaughter and dispersion have come. They will have no refuge nor escape. The Lord will despoil their pasture, devastate their peaceful folds. Their lands will become a waste because of the sword of the oppressor and the Lord's fierce anger.

Here is a prophecy directed specifically at priests - the shepherds and lords of the flock. All will suffer in the coming destruction of Jerusalem, but they will fall "like choice rams" and shall have no refuge. The shepherds are the priests, they have a special calling to lead God's flock, to protect them and teach them the right way to live. When they are living "like choice rams" while the people go astray, then the shepherds will be punished, and will have no escape. They could have properly led the people and thereby all escaped this fate, but they did not. The shepherds saw to their own needs and desires first and foremost, while the people were left without guidance, so they "shall be like dung on the surface of the ground."

The Church is the New Jerusalem. Our priests have to us the same duties that the Levitical priests had to the Jews - to adhere to the truth, see to our needs, and put their flock's proper formation before their own needs, desires, and even polictical beliefs. They are singularly equipped and given the grace to lead us away from the evil of our generation and show us the right paths, even if it means them being uncomfortable or persecuted in this life. Are they doing this? Many are. But many are not. The shepherds who are not had better wake up, repent, and start leading the people, lest we all suffer the fate Jeremiah describes here.