Zechariah 11

1 Open your gates, Lebanon, and let fire consume your cedars.

Open your doors, O Libanus, and let the fire devour your cedars.

2 Howl, you fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the magnificent have been devastated. Howl, you oaks of Bashan, because the secure forest passage has been cut down.

Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen; for the mighty men have been greatly afflicted: howl, you oaks of the land of Basan; for the thickly planted forest has been torn down.

3 The voice of the howling of the shepherds: for their magnificence has been devastated. The voice of the roaring of the lions: because the arrogance of the Jordan has been devastated.

[There is] a voice of the shepherds mourning; for their greatness is brought low: a voice of roaring lions; for the pride of Jordan is brought down.

4 Thus says the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,

Thus says the Lord Almighty, Feed the sheep of the slaughter;

5 which those who possessed them cut down, and they did not feel sorrow, and they sold them, saying: “Blessed be the Lord; we have become wealthy. Even their shepherds did not spare them.”

which their possessors have slain, and have not repented: and they that sold them said, Blessed be the Lord; for we have become rich: and their shepherds have suffered no sorrow for them.

6 And so, I will no longer spare the inhabitants upon the earth, says the Lord. Behold, I will deliver men, each one into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king. And they will cut down the land, and I will not rescue it from their hand.

Therefore I will no longer have mercy upon the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord: but, behold, I will deliver up the men every one into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they shall destroy the land, and I will not rescue out of their hand.

7 And I will pasture the flock of the slaughter, because of this, O poor of the flock. And I took to myself two staffs: the one I called Handsome, and the other I called Rope, and I pastured the flock.

And I will tend the flock of slaughter in the land of Chanaan: and I will take for myself two rods; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Line; and I will tend the flock.

8 And I cut down three shepherds in one month. And my soul became contracted concerning them, just as their soul also varied concerning me.

And I will cut off three shepherds in one month; and my soul shall grieve over them, for their souls cried out against me.

9 And I said: I will not pasture you. Whatever dies, let it die. And whatever is cut down, let it be cut down. And let the rest of them devour, each one the flesh of his neighbor.

And I said, I will not tend you: that which dies, let it die; and that which falls off, let it fall off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of his neighbor.

10 And I took my staff, which was called Handsome, and I tore it apart, so as to invalidate my pact, which I had struck with all of the people.

And I will take my beautiful staff, and cast it away, that I may break my covenant which I made with all the people.

11 And it became invalid in that day. And so they understood, just like the poor of the flock who stay close to me, that this is the word of the Lord.

And it shall be broken in that day; and the Chananites, the sheep that are kept for me, shall know that it is the word of the Lord.

12 And I said to them: If it is good in your eyes, bring me my wages. And if not, remain still. And they weighed for my wages thirty silver coins.

And I will say to them, If it be good in your eyes, give [me] my price, or refuse it. And they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me: Cast it towards the statuary, the handsome price at which I have been valued by them. And I took the thirty silver coins, and I cast them into the house of the Lord, towards the statuary.

And the Lord said to me, Drop them into the furnace, and I will see if it is good [metal], as I was proved for their sakes. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the furnace in the house of the Lord.

14 And I cut short my second staff, which was called Rope, so that I might dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

And I cast away [my] second rod, [even] Line, that I might break the possession between Juda and Israel.

15 And the Lord said to me: Still they are to you the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

And the Lord said to me, Take yet to you shepherd's implements belonging to an unskillful shepherd.

16 For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish what remains standing, and he will consume the flesh of the fatted ones and break their hoofs.

For, behold, I [will] raise up a shepherd against the land: he shall not visit that which is perishing, and he shall not seek that which is scattered, and he shall not heal that which is bruised, nor guide that which is whole: but he shall devour the flesh of the choice [ones], and shall dislocate the joints [of their necks].

17 O shepherd and idol, abandoning the flock, with a sword upon his arm and over his right eye: his arm will be withered by drought, and his right eye will be obscured by darkness.

Alas for the vain shepherds that have forsaken the sheep! the sword [shall be] upon the arms of such a one, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be completely withered, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.