Zechariah 11

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

Open, O Lebanon, your doors, And fire devours among your cedars.

2 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.

Howl, O fir, for the cedar has fallen, For their majestic ones were destroyed, Howl, you oaks of Bashan, For the enclosed forest has come down,

3 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.

A voice of the howling of the shepherds! For their robe of honor was destroyed, A voice of the roaring of young lions! For the excellence of Jordan was destroyed.

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

Thus said my God YHWH: “Feed the flock of the slaughter,

5 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.

Whose buyers slay them, and are not guilty, And their sellers say, Blessed [is] YHWH, And I am rich, And their shepherds have no pity on them.

6 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.

For I no longer have pity on inhabitants of the land, A declaration of YHWH, And behold, I am causing man to come forth, Each into the hand of his neighbor, And into the hand of his king, And they have beaten down the land, And I do not deliver out of their hand.”

7 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.

And I feed the flock of slaughter, even you, you afflicted of the flock; and I take two staffs to myself; I have called one Pleasantness, and I have called the other Bands, and I feed the flock.

8 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.

And I cut off the three shepherds in one month, and my soul is grieved with them, and also their soul has abhorred me.

9 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.

And I say, “I do not feed you, the dying, let die; and the cut off, let be cut off; and the remaining ones, let each eat the flesh of its neighbor.”

10 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.

And I take my staff Pleasantness, and cut it apart, to make void my covenant that I had made with all the peoples:

11 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.

and it is broken in that day, and the afflicted of the flock who are observing me know well, that it [is] a word of YHWH.

12 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.

And I say to them: “If good in your eyes, give my hire, and if not, refrain”; and they weigh out my hire—thirty pieces of silver.

13 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.

And YHWH says to me, “Cast it to the potter”; the good price that I have been prized at by them, and I take the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them [into] the house of YHWH, to the potter.

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

And I cut apart my second staff, Bands, To break the unity between Judah and Israel.

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

And YHWH says to me, “Again take to yourself the instrument of a foolish shepherd.

16 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.

For behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land, The cut off he does not inspect, The shaken off he does not seek, And the broken he does not heal, The standing he does not sustain, And the flesh of the fat he eats, And their hooves he breaks off.

17 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.

Woe [to] the worthless shepherd, forsaking the flock, A sword [is] on his arm, and on his right eye, His arm is utterly dried up, And his right eye is very dim!”