Zechariah 11

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

Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire can burn up 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.

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

This is what the Lord my God says: Become a shepherd of 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.

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 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 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 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 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 And I removed the three shepherds in one month; and my soul was tired of them, and also their soul 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: 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 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, namely, Mildness, and cut it to pieces, to annul my covenant which I had made with all the tribes.

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

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 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 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.

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

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

15 And the Lord 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 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 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 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.

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.