Zechariah 11

1 Let your doors be open, O Lebanon, so that fire may be burning among your cedars.

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

2 Give a cry of grief, O fir-tree, for the fall of the cedar, because the great ones have been made low: give cries of grief, O you oaks of Bashan, for the strong trees of the wood have come down.

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!

3 The sound of the crying of the keepers of the flock! for their glory is made waste: the sound of the loud crying of the young lions! for the pride of Jordan is made waste.

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.

4 This is what the Lord my God has said: Take care of the flock of death;

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

5 Whose owners put them to death and have no sense of sin; and those who get a price for them say, May the Lord be praised for I have much wealth: and the keepers of the flock have no pity for them.

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.

6 For I will have no more pity for the people of the land, says the Lord; but I will give up everyone into his neighbour's hand and into the hand of his king: and they will make the land waste, and I will not keep them safe from their hands.

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.”

7 So I took care of the flock of death, for those who made profit out of the flock; and I took for myself two rods, naming one Beautiful, and the other Bands; and I took care of the flock.

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.

8 And in one month I put an end to the three keepers of the flock; for my soul was tired of them, and their souls were disgusted with me.

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

9 And I said, I will not take care of you: If death comes to any, let death be its fate; if any is cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest take one another's flesh for food.

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.”

10 And I took my rod Beautiful, cutting it in two, so that the Lord's agreement, which he had made with all the peoples, might be broken.

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

11 And it was broken on that day: and the sheep-traders, who were watching me, were certain that it was the word of the Lord.

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.

12 And I said to them, If it seems good to you, give me my payment; and if not, do not give it. So they gave me my payment by weight, thirty shekels of silver.

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.

13 And the Lord said to me, Put it into the store-house, the price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty shekels of silver and put them into the store-house in the house of the Lord.

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.

14 Then I took my other rod, the one named Bands, cutting it in two, so that the relation of brothers between Judah and Israel might be broken.

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

15 And the Lord said to me, Take again the instruments of a foolish keeper of sheep.

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

16 For see, I will put a sheep-keeper over the land, who will have no care for that which is cut off, and will not go in search of the wanderers, or make well what is broken, and he will not give food to that which is ill, but he will take for his food the flesh of the fat, and let their feet be broken.

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.

17 A curse on the foolish keeper who goes away from the flock! the sword will be on his arm and on his right eye: his arm will become quite dry and his eye will be made completely dark.

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!”