Zechariah 11
1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire can burn up your cedars!
2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
Weep, juniper, because the cedar has fallen, the majestic trees are ruined! Weep, oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has been cut down!
3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
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.
4 Thus saith Yhwh my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
This is what the Lord my God says: Become a shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter.
5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be Yhwh; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
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.
6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Yhwh: 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.
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.
7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Grace, and the other I called Union; and I fed the flock.
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.
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
In one month I dismissed three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also hated me.
9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.
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!”
10 And I took my staff, even Grace, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
Then I took my staff called Grace and broke it, breaking the agreement I had made with all the peoples.
11 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 Yhwh.
It was broken on that day, and the sheep merchants who were watching me knew that it was a message from the Lord.
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
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.
13 And Yhwh said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of Yhwh.
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.
14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family union between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yhwh said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
The Lord told me, Get the things you use as a shepherd, a useless shepherd.
16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
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.
17 Woe to the vain shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
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.
