Zechariah 11

1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, and the fire shall eat on thy cedars.

Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!

2 Wail, fir-tree; for fallen is the cedar; those that were mighty are despoiled: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the impervious forest is come down.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!

3 [There is] the noise of the wailing of the shepherds; for wasted is their glory: [there is] the noise of the roaring of young lions; for wasted is the pride of the Jordan.

Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

4 Thus hath said the Lord my God, Feed the flocks [that are destined for] the slaughter;

This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,

5 Whom their buyers slay, and hold themselves guiltless; and whose sellers say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich: and none of whose shepherds have pity on them.

whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.

6 For I will no more have pity on the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king: and they shall beat down the land, and I will not deliver out of their hand.

For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”

7 And I had fed the flocks [that were destined for] the slaughter, —indeed, the poorest of the flocks; and I had taken unto me two staves; the one I called Mildness [[No'am]], and the other I called Concord [[Choblim]]: and I fed the flocks.

So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.

8 And I removed the three shepherds in one month; and my soul was tired of them, and also their soul abhorred me.

And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.

9 Then said I, I will not feed you: what is dying may die; and what is to be lost may be lost; and those that are left may eat every one the flesh of the other.

Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”

10 And I took my staff, namely, Mildness, and cut it to pieces, to annul my covenant which I had made with all the tribes.

Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.

11 And when it was annulled on that day, then knew they well, truly the poorest of the flocks that waited for me, that it was the word of the Lord.

It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

12 And I said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my reward; and if not, forbear. So they weighed out as my reward thirty pieces of silver.

Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the treasurer, the precious price which I am prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them in the house of the Lord unto the treasurer.

And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff, namely, Concord, to annul the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

16 For, lo, I raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not think of those that are lost, nor seek for that which is gone astray, nor heal that which hath [a limb] broken; who will not care for that which hath stood still; but who will eat the flesh of the fat, and devour all even to their claws.

For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall utterly wither, and his right eye shall be completely blinded.

Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”