Zechariah 11

1 Open, O Lebanon, your doors, And fire devours among your cedars.

Open thy doores, O Lebanon, and the fire shall deuoure thy cedars.

2 Howl, O fir, for the cedar has fallen, For their majestic ones were destroyed, Howl, you oaks of Bashan, For the enclosed forest has come down,

Houle, firre trees: for the cedar is fallen, because all the mightie are destroyed: houle ye, O okes of Bashan, for ye defesed forest is cut downe.

3 A voice of the howling of the shepherds! For their robe of honor was destroyed, A voice of the roaring of young lions! For the excellence of Jordan was destroyed.

There is the voyce of the houling of the shepherdes: for their glorie is destroyed: the voyce of ye roaring of lyons whelpes: for the pride of Iorden is destroyed.

4 Thus said my God YHWH: “Feed the flock of the slaughter,

Thus sayeth the Lord my God, Feede the sheepe of the slaughter.

5 Whose buyers slay them, and are not guilty, And their sellers say, Blessed [is] YHWH, And I am rich, And their shepherds have no pity on them.

They that possesse them, slay them and sinne not: and they that sell them, say, Blessed be the Lord: for I am riche, and their owne shepherds spare them not.

6 For I no longer have pity on inhabitants of the land, A declaration of YHWH, And behold, I am causing man to come forth, Each into the hand of his neighbor, And into the hand of his king, And they have beaten down the land, And I do not deliver out of their hand.”

Surely I wil no more spare those that dwell in the land, sayth the Lord: but loe, I will deliuer the men euery one into his neighbours hand, and into the hand of his King: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hands I wil not deliuer them.

7 And I feed the flock of slaughter, even you, you afflicted of the flock; and I take two staffs to myself; I have called one Pleasantness, and I have called the other Bands, and I feed the flock.

For I fed the sheepe of slaughter, euen the poore of the flocke, and I tooke vnto me two staues: the one I called Beautie, and the other I called Bandes, and I fed the sheepe.

8 And I cut off the three shepherds in one month, and my soul is grieved with them, and also their soul has abhorred me.

Three shepherdes also I cut off in one moneth, and my soule lothed them, and their soule abhorred me.

9 And I say, “I do not feed you, the dying, let die; and the cut off, let be cut off; and the remaining ones, let each eat the flesh of its neighbor.”

Then said I, I will not feede you: that that dyeth, let it dye: and that that perisheth, let it perish: and let the remnant eate, euery one the flesh of his neighbour.

10 And I take my staff Pleasantness, and cut it apart, to make void my covenant that I had made with all the peoples:

And I tooke my staffe, euen Beautie, and brake it, that I might disanull my couenant, which I had made with all people.

11 and it is broken in that day, and the afflicted of the flock who are observing me know well, that it [is] a word of YHWH.

And it was broken in that day: and so the poore of the sheepe that waited vpon me, knew that it was the worde of the Lord.

12 And I say to them: “If good in your eyes, give my hire, and if not, refrain”; and they weigh out my hire—thirty pieces of silver.

And I said vnto them, If ye thinke it good, giue me my wages: and if no, leaue off: so they weighed for my wages thirtie pieces of siluer.

13 And YHWH says to me, “Cast it to the potter”; the good price that I have been prized at by them, and I take the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them [into] the house of YHWH, to the potter.

And the Lord said vnto me, Cast it vnto the potter: a goodly price, that I was valued at of them. And I tooke the thirtie pieces of siluer, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

14 And I cut apart my second staff, Bands, To break the unity between Judah and Israel.

Then brake I mine other staffe, euen the Bandes, that I might dissolue the brotherhood betweene Iudah and Israel.

15 And YHWH says to me, “Again take to yourself the instrument of a foolish shepherd.

And the Lord said vnto me, Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepheard.

16 For behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land, The cut off he does not inspect, The shaken off he does not seek, And the broken he does not heal, The standing he does not sustain, And the flesh of the fat he eats, And their hooves he breaks off.

For loe, I will rayse vp a shepheard in the land, which shall not looke for the thing, that is lost, nor seeke the tender lambes, nor heale that that is hurt, nor feede that that standeth vp: but he shall eate the flesh of the fat, and teare their clawes in pieces.

17 Woe [to] the worthless shepherd, forsaking the flock, A sword [is] on his arm, and on his right eye, His arm is utterly dried up, And his right eye is very dim!”

O idole shepheard that leaueth the flocke: the sword shalbe vpon his arme, and vpon his right eye. His arme shall be cleane dryed vp, and his right eye shall be vtterly darkened.