Zechariah 11

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

Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, And fire doth devour among 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.

Howl, O fir, for fallen hath the cedar, For their honourable ones were destroyed, Howl, ye oaks of Bashan, For come down hath the fenced forest,

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.

A voice of the howling of the shepherds! For destroyed was their robe of honour, A voice of the roaring of young lions! For destroyed was the excellency of Jordan.

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

Thus said Jehovah my God: 'Feed the flock of 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.

Whose buyers slay them, and are not guilty, And their sellers say, Blessed [is] Jehovah, And I am rich, And their shepherds have no 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 have pity no more on inhabitants of the land, An affirmation of Jehovah, And lo, I am causing man to come forth, Each into the hand of his neighbour, And into the hand of his king, And they have beaten down the land, And I do 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 feed the flock of slaughter, even you, ye afflicted of the flock; and I take to me two staves, the one I have called Pleasantness, and the other I have called Bands, and I feed 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 I cut off the three shepherds in one month, and my soul is grieved with them, and also their soul hath 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.

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 neighbour.'

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 take My staff Pleasantness, and cut it asunder, to make void My covenant that I had made with all the peoples:

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

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 say unto them: 'If good in your eyes, give my hire, and if not, forbear;' and they weigh out my hire — thirty silverlings.

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 Jehovah saith unto me, 'Cast it unto the potter;' the goodly price that I have been prized at by them, and I take the thirty silverlings, and cast them [to] the house of Jehovah, unto the potter.

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

And I cut asunder my second staff, Bands, to break the unity between Judah and Israel.

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

And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Again take to thee the instrument 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 am raising up a shepherd in the land, The cut off he doth not inspect, The shaken off he doth not seek, And the broken he doth not heal, The standing he doth not sustain, And the flesh of the fat he doth eat, And their hoofs he doth break off.

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, 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!'