Zechariah 11

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

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

2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is 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 [There is] a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

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 the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

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

5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed [be] the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

(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 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver [them].

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 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, [even] you, O 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 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 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred 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 feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of 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 And I took my staff, [even] Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

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

11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it [was] the word of the LORD.

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

12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give [me] my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price 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 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty [pieces] of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

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 I cut asunder mine other staff, [even] Bands, 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 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

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

16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, [which] shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws 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 Woe to the idol 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 shall be utterly 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!”