Zechariah 11

¹Open thy doors, O Lebanon, That the fire may devour thy cedars!

²Howl, O cypress, for the cedar falleth! For the lofty ones are destroyed! Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, For the high forest is come down!

³Hark! the voice of the howling of the shepherds, Because their glory is destroyed! The voice of the roaring of young lions, Because the pride of Jordan is destroyed!

⁴Thus said Jehovah, my God: Feed thou the flock of slaughter,

⁵Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, And which they who sell say, "Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich!" And whose shepherds spare them not.

⁶For I will no longer spare The inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; But, behold, I will deliver the men Every one into the hand of his neighbor, And into the hand of his king; And they shall smite the land, And I will not deliver out of their hand.

⁷So I fed the flock of slaughter, truly a miserable flock. And I took to me two crooks; the one I called Favor, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

⁸And I cut off three shepherds in one month; for I was weary of them, and they also abhorred me.

⁹Then I said, I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat the flesh of one another.

¹⁰And I took my staff Favor, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the nations.

¹¹And it was broken in that day; and so the poor of the flock, who had regard to me, knew that it was the word of Jehovah.

¹²Then I said to them, If it seem good in your eyes, give me my wages; if not, keep them. And they weighed for my wages thirty shekels of silver.

¹³And Jehovah said to me, Cast it into the treasury, the goodly price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty shekels of silver, and cast them into the house of Jehovah, into the treasury.

¹⁴Then I broke my other crook, even Bands, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵And Jehovah said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

¹⁶For lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land Who shall not care for those that are perishing, Nor seek that which is gone astray, Nor heal that which is wounded, Nor support that which cannot go; But he shall eat the flesh of the fat, And consume it even to the hoofs.

¹⁷Woe to the foolish shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword is upon his arm, and upon his right eye; His arm shall surely be withered, And his right eye shall surely be darkened!

Zechariah 11

¹Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

²Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

³There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

⁴Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

⁵Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

⁶For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

⁷And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

⁸Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

⁹Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

¹⁰And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

¹¹And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord.

¹²And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

¹³And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

¹⁴Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

¹⁶For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

¹⁷Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.