Zechariah 11

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

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

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.

[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.

4 Thus, saith Yahweh my God, —Tend thou the flock doomed to slaughter:

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

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.

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 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.

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,

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 pieces my second staff, namely, Concord, to annul 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 unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments 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, 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.

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 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.