Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!

Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars.

2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!

Howl, thou fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the mighty are laid waste: howl, ye oaks of Basan, because the fenced forest is cut down.

3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

The voice of the howling of the shepherds, because their glory is laid waste: the voice of the roaring of the lions, because the pride of the Jordan is spoiled.

4 This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,

Thus saith the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,

5 whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.

Which they that possessed, slew, and repented not, and they sold them, saying: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich: and their shepherds spared them not.

6 For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”

And I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: behold I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall destroy the land, and I will not deliver it out of their hand.

7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.

And I will feed the hock of slaughter for this, O ye poor of the dock. And I took unto me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other I called a Cord, and I fed the flock.

8 And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.

And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was straitened in their regard: for their soul also varied in my regard.

9 Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”

And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour.

10 Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.

And I took my rod that was called Beauty, and I cut it asunder to make void my covenant, which I had made with all people.

11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

And it was made void in that day: and so the poor of the flock that keep for me, understood that it is the word of the Lord.

12 Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

And I said to them: If it be good in your eyes, bring hither my wages: and if not, be quiet. And they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, a handsome price, that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord to the statuary.

14 Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

And I cut off my second rod that was called a Cord, that I might break the brotherhood between Juda and Israel.

15 And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

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

16 For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.

For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of the fat ones, and break their hoofs.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”

O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.