Zechariah 11
1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, That the fire may devour thy cedars!
Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars.
2 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!
Wail, pine-tree, for the cedar is fallen. Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the inaccessible forest has fallen.
3 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!
Listen to the wailing of the shepherds! Their glory is destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions! Blasted is the thick forest of the Jordan.
4 Thus said Jehovah, my God: Feed thou the flock of slaughter,
The Lord said to me: shepherd the flock destined for slaughter,
5 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.
whose possessors slaughter them, and hold themselves not guilty! The people who sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich! And their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
6 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.
I will no longer have pity on the people of this earth, says the Lord. I will turn neighbor against neighbor, and put everyone under the power of a king, and when the land is devastated I will not rescue them.
7 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.
So I shepherded the flock of slaughter for the sheep-merchants. I took two staffs: one I called Mercy and the other I called Union. So I shepherded the sheep.
8 And I cut off three shepherds in one month; for I was weary of them, and they also abhorred me.
I set aside three of the shepherds in one month; for I was indignant against them, and they also were displeased at me.
9 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.
I said, I will not shepherd you. What is dead, let it die. What is set aside, let it be set aside. And let those who are left devour one another’s flesh.
10 And I took my staff Favor, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the nations.
And I took my staff, Mercy, and broke it, so as to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
11 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.
In that day it was broken, and the sheep-merchants who watched me knew that it was the Lord’s message.
12 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.
And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wage. If not, don’t.” So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver.
13 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.
And the Lord said to me, Cast it into the treasury – the precious wage that at which I was valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of the Lord, into the treasury.
14 Then I broke my other crook, even Bands, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Then I broke my second staff called Union so as to dissolve the brotherhood between Judah and Jerusalem.
15 And Jehovah said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
And the Lord said to me: Take again the implements of a worthless shepherd.
16 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.
For I am about to appoint a shepherd over the land. Those who are thrust down he will not visit. Those who are scattered he will not seek out. The wounded he will not heal, the sick he will not make whole, but the flesh of the fat he will devour and even their hoofs he will tear.
17 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!
Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye. May his arm completely wither. And his right eye be blinded.
