Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.

[You people of] [APO] Lebanon [should] open your gates, [because you will not be able to stop] fire from burning your cedar [trees]!

2 Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.

Your cypress/pine [trees] [APO] should [also] wail because the cedar [trees] have been cut down. Those glorious/great trees have been destroyed. The oak trees in the Bashan [region] should also wail, because the other trees in the forest have been cut down.

3 A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed—a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

And listen to the shepherds crying because the fertile pastures have been ruined. Listen to the lions roar; they roar because the delightful forest [where they live] near the Jordan [River] has been ruined.

4 Yahweh my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.

This is what Yahweh my God said [to me]: “[I want you to] become a shepherd for a flock [of sheep that are about] to be slaughtered.

5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them.

The people who are going to buy the sheep will kill the sheep, and they will not be punished. Those who are selling the sheep say, ‘[I] praise Yahweh, [because] I will become rich!’ Even the shepherds do not feel sorry for the sheep.

6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”

And similarly, I no longer feel sorry for the people of this country. I am going to allow many of them [HYP] to be captured by other people or by their king. Those who capture them will ruin this country, and I will not rescue any [of the people].”

7 So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock.

So I became the shepherd of a flock [of sheep that were about] to be slaughtered [for their meat to be sold] to the dealers. [I took good care of the sheep, even the ones that were the weakest sheep. Then] I took two [shepherds’] /walking sticks). I named the one [staff] ‘Kindness’ and the other [staff] ‘Union’. And I took good care of the sheep.

8 I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

But the three shepherds [who had been working with me] detested me, and I became impatient with them. Within one month I (dismissed/got rid of) those shepherds.

9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”

So I said [to the dealers], “I will no [longer] be the shepherd. I will allow the ones that are dying to die. I will allow the ones that are getting lost to get lost. And I will not prevent those that remain from destroying each other.”

10 I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

Then I took the staff that I had named ‘Kindness’ and I broke it. [That showed that Yahweh] was annulling/canceling the agreement that he had made with all the people-groups.

11 It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was Yahweh’s word.

So that agreement was ended immediately. And the men who bought and sold sheep who were watching me knew [by seeing what I was doing] that I was giving them a message from Yahweh.

12 I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

I told them, “If you think it is what you should do, pay me [for taking care of the sheep]. If you do not think that is what you should do, do not pay me.” So they paid me [only] 30 pieces of silver.

13 Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in Yahweh’s house.

Then Yahweh said to me, “[That is a ridiculously small amount of money that they have paid you]! [So] throw it to the man who makes clay pots!” So I took the silver to the temple of Yahweh, and I threw it in the chest where the offerings/money is kept.

14 Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then I broke my second staff, [the one that I named] ‘Union’. That [indicated that] Judah and Israel would no longer be united.

15 Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

Then Yahweh said to me, “Take again the things that a foolish shepherd uses,

16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.

because I am going to appoint a new king for the people, [one who will not take care of my people. He will be like a foolish shepherd]: [MET] He will not take care of those who are dying, those who are very young, those who have been injured, or those who do not have enough food. Instead, he will [treat them very cruelly, like a shepherd who would] [MET] kill and eat the best sheep and tear off their hoofs.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”

But terrible things will happen to that foolish/useless king who abandons the people [MET] over whom he rules. [His enemies] will strike his arm and his right eye with their swords. [The result will be that] he will have no strength in his arm, and his right eye will become completely blind.”