Zechariah 11

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

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

Wail, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are laid waste: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come 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 wailing of the shepherds; for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is laid waste.

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

Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock 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.”

Whose 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.

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.

For 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.

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

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

Then said I, 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 every one the flesh of another.

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 took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had 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 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.

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 said to them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So 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, Cast it to the potter: a magnificent price that I was valued at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter 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.

Then I cut asunder my other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah 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 to thee yet the instruments of a foolish 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, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit those that are cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

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.

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