Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire can burn up your cedars!

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

2 Weep, juniper, because the cedar has fallen, the majestic trees are ruined! Weep, oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has been cut down!

Wail, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the fine ones are destroyed. Wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.

3 Listen to the howls of the shepherds, for their pastureland is destroyed. Listen to the roars of the young lions, for their Jordan habitat is ruined.

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 the Jordan is laid waste.

4 This is what the Lord my God says: Become a shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter.

Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter,

5 Those who buy them kill them and don't feel guilty; those who sell them say, “Praise the Lord! Now I'm rich!” Even their shepherds don't care about them.

whose possessors kill them, and hold themselves not guilty. And those who sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not.

6 For I will no longer care about the people of the Land, declares the Lord. I am going to make them victims of each other, and of the king. They will devastate the earth and I won't help anyone get away from them.

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, says Jehovah. But, lo, I will deliver the men each one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king. And they shall smite the land, and I will not deliver them out of their hand.

7 So I became a shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter by the sheep merchants. Then I took two staffs, one named Grace, the other named Union, and I shepherded the flock.

So I fed the flock of slaughter, truly the poor of the flock. And I took to me two staves, the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands, and I fed the flock.

8 In one month I dismissed three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also hated me.

And I cut off the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

9 Then I said, “I will not be your shepherd. If the sheep die, they die. Let those that are to perish, perish. Let those who are left eat each other!”

Then I said, I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die, and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off, and let those who are left eat each one the flesh of another.

10 Then I took my staff called Grace and broke it, breaking the agreement I had made with all the peoples.

And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

11 It was broken on that day, and the sheep merchants who were watching me knew that it was a message from the Lord.

And it was broken in that day, and thus the poor of the flock who gave heed to me knew that it was the word of Jehovah.

12 I told them, “If you want to pay me my wages, then do so. If not, then don't.” So they paid me my wages—thirty pieces of silver.

And I said to them, If ye think good, give me my wage, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my wage thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw the money to the treasury,” this measly sum they thought I was worth! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the treasury of the Lord's Temple.

And Jehovah said to me, Cast it to the potter, the good price that I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of Jehovah.

14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family union between Judah and Israel.

Then I cut apart my other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 The Lord told me, Get the things you use as a shepherd, a useless shepherd.

And Jehovah said to me, Take to thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

16 For I am placing a shepherd in charge of the land who won't care for those who are dying, or look for the lost, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy. Instead he will eat the meat from the fattest sheep. He even tears their hooves off.

For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, nor will he seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound, but he will eat the flesh of the fat, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.

17 What disaster is coming to this useless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will wither away and his right eye will become completely blind.

Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye. His arm shall be entirely dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.