Zechariah 11

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

Open your doors, Lebanon, that fire may devour your 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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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

(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.)

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 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.”

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,

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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!”