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!

Howl, O cypress, for the cedar falleth! For the lofty ones are destroyed! Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, For the high forest is 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.

Hark! the voice of the howling of the shepherds, Because their glory is destroyed! The voice of the roaring of young lions, Because the pride of Jordan is destroyed!

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

Thus said Jehovah, my God: Feed thou 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 slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, And which they who sell say, “Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich!” And whose shepherds spare 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 longer spare The inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; But, behold, I will deliver the men Every one into the hand of his neighbor, And into the hand of his king; And they shall smite the land, And I will not deliver 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 a miserable flock. And I took to me two crooks; the one I called Favor, 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 three shepherds in one month; for I was weary of them, and they also abhorred 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 dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat the flesh of one 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 Favor, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the nations.

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 so the poor of the flock, who had regard 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.

Then I said to them, If it seem good in your eyes, give me my wages; if not, keep them. And they weighed for my wages thirty shekels 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 into the treasury, the goodly price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty shekels of silver, and cast them into the house of Jehovah, into the treasury.

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

Then I broke my other crook, even Bands, to 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 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 shall not care for those that are perishing, Nor seek that which is gone astray, Nor heal that which is wounded, Nor support that which cannot go; But he shall eat the flesh of the fat, And consume it even to the hoofs.

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 foolish shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword is upon his arm, and upon his right eye; His arm shall surely be withered, And his right eye shall surely be darkened!