Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars!

Open thy doors, O Lebanon, That the fire may devour thy cedars!

2 Lament, cypress trees, for the cedar trees have fallen! What was majestic has been devastated! Lament, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has gone down.

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!

3 The shepherds howl, for their glory has been destroyed! The voice of the young lions' roar, for the pride of the Jordan River has been devastated!

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!

4 This is what Yahweh my God says, “Like a shepherd, watch over the flock set aside for slaughter!

Thus said Jehovah, my God: Feed thou the flock of slaughter,

5 (The ones who buy them slaughter them and are not punished, and the ones who sell them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh! I have become rich!' for the shepherds working for the flocks' owners have no pity on them.)

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.

6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land!—this is Yahweh's declaration. See! I myself am about to turn over every person into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king, and they will destroy the land and none of them will I deliver them from their hand.”

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.

7 So I became the shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter, for those who dealt in sheep. I took two staffs; one staff I called “Favor” and the other I called “Unity.” In this way I shepherded the flock.

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.

8 In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also hated me.

And I cut off three shepherds in one month; for I was weary of them, and they also abhorred me.

9 Then I said to the owners, “I will not work as a shepherd for you any longer. The sheep that are dying—let them die; the sheep that are being destroyed—let them be destroyed. Let the sheep that remain each eat the flesh of its neighbor.”

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.

10 So I took my staff “Favor” and broke it to break the covenant that I had made with all of my tribes.

And I took my staff Favor, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the nations.

11 On that day the covenant was broken, and those who dealt in sheep and who were watching me knew that Yahweh had spoken.

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.

12 I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages. But if not, do not do it.” So they weighed out my wages—thirty pieces of silver.

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.

13 Then Yahweh said to me, “Deposit the silver in the treasury, the excellent price at which they valued you!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and deposited them in the treasury in the house of Yahweh.

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.

14 Then I broke my second staff, “Unity,” to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then I broke my other crook, even Bands, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Yahweh said to me, “Again, take the equipment of a foolish shepherd for yourself,

And Jehovah said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

16 for see, I am about to set in place a shepherd in the land. He will not care for the perishing sheep. He will not seek out the sheep gone missing, nor heal the crippled sheep. He will not feed the sheep that are healthy, but will eat the flesh of the fattened sheep and will tear off their hooves.

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.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who forsakes the flock! May the sword come against his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither away and may his right eye become blind!”

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!