Zechariah 11

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

Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire can burn up your cedars!

2 Howl, cypress, for the cedar is fallen; because the noble ones are spoiled. Howl, ye oaks of Bashan; for the strong forest is come down.

Weep, juniper, because the cedar has fallen, the majestic trees are ruined! Weep, oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has been cut down!

3 A voice of howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

Listen to the howls of the shepherds, for their pastureland is destroyed. Listen to the roars of the young lions, for their Jordan habitat is ruined.

4 Thus saith Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter,

This is what the Lord my God says: Become a shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter.

5 whose possessors slay them without being held guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah! for I am become rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.

Those who buy them kill them and don't feel guilty; those who sell them say, “Praise the Lord! Now I'm rich!” Even their shepherds don't care about them.

6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah, and behold, I will deliver men, every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and I will not deliver out of their hand.

For I will no longer care about the people of the Land, declares the Lord. I am going to make them victims of each other, and of the king. They will devastate the earth and I won't help anyone get away from them.

7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, truly the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

So I became a shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter by the sheep merchants. Then I took two staffs, one named Grace, the other named Union, and I shepherded the flock.

8 And I destroyed three shepherds in one month; and my soul was vexed with them, and their soul also loathed me.

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

9 And I said, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which perisheth let it perish; and let them which are left eat every one the flesh of another.

Then I said, “I will not be your shepherd. If the sheep die, they die. Let those that are to perish, perish. Let those who are left eat each other!”

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

Then I took my staff called Grace and broke it, breaking the agreement I had made with all the peoples.

11 And it was broken in that day; and so the poor of the flock that gave heed to me knew that it was the word of Jehovah.

It was broken on that day, and the sheep merchants who were watching me knew that it was a message from the Lord.

12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give [me] my hire; and if not, forbear. And they weighed for my hire thirty silver-pieces.

I told them, “If you want to pay me my wages, then do so. If not, then don't.” So they paid me my wages—thirty pieces of silver.

13 And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty silver-pieces, and cast them to the potter in the house of Jehovah.

And the Lord said to me, “Throw the money to the treasury,” this measly sum they thought I was worth! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the treasury of the Lord's Temple.

14 And I cut asunder mine other staff, Bands, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family union between Judah and Israel.

15 And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

The Lord told me, Get the things you use as a shepherd, a useless shepherd.

16 For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit those that are about to perish, neither shall seek that which is strayed away, nor heal that which is wounded, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their hoofs in pieces.

For I am placing a shepherd in charge of the land who won't care for those who are dying, or look for the lost, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy. Instead he will eat the meat from the fattest sheep. He even tears their hooves off.

17 Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye utterly darkened.

What disaster is coming to this useless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will wither away and his right eye will become completely blind.