The shepherds have been the focus of the Lord’s judgment in these verses, but that does not mean that the sheep are left untouched, or that they are simply innocent bystanders. The Lord is laying waste to their pastures.
The sheep are destroyed because they are left without shepherds to guide and protect them. The peaceful folds are devastated because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
The scene is of sheep feeding peacefully in quiet fields when a predator suddenly attacks, and the sheep are destroyed because there is no shepherd to protect them. The sheep, the ordinary citizens of the nations, are not innocent. They are just as guilty before the Lord, but the primary way they experience his judgment is in the chaos of losing those who protected them as a nation.
36 A voice the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,