Zechariah 11

1 Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, —that a fire, may devour, thy cedar,

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

2 Howl, fir-tree, for fallen is the cedar, because, the majestic ones, are spoiled: howl, ye oaks of Bashan, for the inaccessible forest, hath 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 The noise of the howling of the shepherds, for spoiled is their majesty, —The noise of the roaring of the young lions, for spoiled are the proud banks 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, saith Yahweh my God, —Tend thou the flock doomed to slaughter:

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

5 Whose, buyers, slay them, and are not held guilty, and whose, sellers, say—Blessed be Yahweh, that I am become rich, And so, their own shepherds, have no pity upon 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 Surely I will have pity no longer upon the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh, —Therefore lo! I am delivering up mankind, every man into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king, and they will crush the earth, nor will I 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 So I tended the flock doomed to slaughter, for the sheep-merchants, —and took unto me two staves, the one, I called Grace, and, the other, I called Union, thus I tended the sheep,

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 sent off three shepherds, in one month, —for impatient was my soul with them, moreover also, their soul, felt a loathing against 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 tend you, —the dying, may die, and, the disappearing, may disappear, and, the remainder, may devour one another.

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 So I took my staff Grace, and cut it in two, —that I might set aside my covenant which I had solemnised with all the peoples.

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

11 When it was broken, on that day, then did the sheep- merchants who were watching me, know, that, the word of Yahweh, it was.

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 Then said I unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my wage, and, if not, forbear. So they weighed out my wage, 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 Then said Yahweh unto me, Cast it into the treasury, the magnificent price at which I had been valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them, in the house of Yahweh, into the treasury.

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 cut I in two my second staff, even Union, —that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

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

15 Then said Yahweh unto me, —Yet further take thee the implements of a worthless shepherd.

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

16 For lo! I am raising up a shepherd in the land, the disappearing, will he not visit, the straying, will he not seek, and, the fractured, will he not bind up, —the weak, will he not nourish, but, the flesh of the fat, will he eat, and, their hoofs, will he break in pieces.

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 Alas! for my worthless shepherd, who forsaketh the flock, A sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye!—his arm, shall be, utterly withered, and, his right eye, shall be, wholly darkened.

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!”