Zechariah 11

1  OPEN YOUR doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!2  Wail, O fir tree and cypress, for the cedar has fallen, because the glorious and lofty trees are laid waste! Wail, O you oaks of Bashan, for the thick and inaccessible forest [on the steep mountainside] has in flames been felled!3  A voice of the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory, the broad pasturage, is laid waste! A voice of the roaring of young lions, for the pride of the Jordan [the jungle or thickets] is ruined!4  Thus says the Lord my God: Shepherd the flock [destined] for slaughter,5  Whose buyers or possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty; and they who sell them say, Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich! And their own shepherds neither pity nor spare them [from the wolves].6  For I will no more pity or spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord; but behold, I will deliver every man into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his [foreign] king. And [the enemy] shall lay waste the land, and I will not deliver [the people] out of the hand [of the foreign oppressor].7  So I [Zechariah] shepherded the flock of slaughter, truly [as the name implies] the most miserable of sheep. And I took two [shepherd’s] staffs, the one I called Beauty or Grace and the other I called Bands or Union; and I fed and shepherded the flock.8  And I cut off the three shepherds [the civil authorities, the priests, and the prophets] in one month, for I was weary and impatient with them, and they also loathed me. 9  So I [Zechariah] said, I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let the survivors devour one another’s flesh.10  And I took my staff, Beauty or Grace, and broke it in pieces to show that I was annulling the covenant or agreement which I had made with all the peoples [not to molest them].11  So the covenant was annulled on that day, and thus the most wretched of the flock and the traffickers in the sheep who were watching me knew (recognized and understood) that it was truly the word of the Lord.12  And I said to them, If it seems just and right to you, give me my wages; but if not, withhold them. So they weighed out for my price thirty pieces of silver.13  And the Lord said to me, Cast it to the potter [as if He said, To the dogs!]--the munificently [miserable] sum at which I [and My shepherd] am priced by them! And I [Zechariah] took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14  Then I broke into pieces my other staff, Bands or Union, indicating that I was annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.15  And the Lord said to me, Take up once more the implements [the staff and rod of a shepherd, but this time] of a worthless and wicked shepherd. 16  For behold, I will raise up a false shepherd in the land; the lost and perishing he will not miss or visit, the young and scattered he will not go to seek, the wounded and broken he will not heal, nor will he feed those that are sound and strong; but he will eat the flesh of the fat ones and break off their hoofs [to consume all the flesh].17  Woe to the worthless and foolish shepherd who deserts the flock! The sword shall smite his arm and his right eye; his arm shall be utterly withered and his right eye utterly blinded.

Zechariah 11

The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings

1 Open your gates, Lebanon,
so that the fire may consume your cedars.s

2 Howl, fir tree,
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.

3 Listen to the howling of shepherds,
because their magnificence has been destroyed.
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.
4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.5 Those who buy thems slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”
7 So Is began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicteds of all the flock. Then I took two staffs,s calling one “Pleasantness”ts and the other “Binders,”ts and I tended the flock.8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month,s for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well.

9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”
10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people.

11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that that was the word of the Lord.
12 Then Is said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment – thirty pieces of silver.s13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sumt at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the pottert at the templet of the Lord.

14 Then I cut the second staff “Binders” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.s

16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured.t Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheept and tear off their hooves.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”