Zacharias 11

1 Open your doors, O Libanus, and let the fire devour your cedars.

Let your doors be open, O Lebanon, so that fire may be burning among your cedars.

2 Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen; for the mighty men have been greatly afflicted: howl, you oaks of the land of Basan; for the thickly planted forest has been torn down.

Give a cry of grief, O fir-tree, for the fall of the cedar, because the great ones have been made low: give cries of grief, O you oaks of Bashan, for the strong trees of the wood have come down.

3 [There is] a voice of the shepherds mourning; for their greatness is brought low: a voice of roaring lions; for the pride of Jordan is brought down.

The sound of the crying of the keepers of the flock! for their glory is made waste: the sound of the loud crying of the young lions! for the pride of Jordan is made waste.

4 Thus says the Lord Almighty, Feed the sheep of the slaughter;

This is what the Lord my God has said: Take care of the flock of death;

5 which their possessors have slain, and have not repented: and they that sold them said, Blessed be the Lord; for we have become rich: and their shepherds have suffered no sorrow for them.

Whose owners put them to death and have no sense of sin; and those who get a price for them say, May the Lord be praised for I have much wealth: and the keepers of the flock have no pity for them.

6 Therefore I will no longer have mercy upon the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord: but, behold, I will deliver up the men every one into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they shall destroy the land, and I will not rescue out of their hand.

For I will have no more pity for the people of the land, says the Lord; but I will give up everyone into his neighbour's hand and into the hand of his king: and they will make the land waste, and I will not keep them safe from their hands.

7 And I will tend the flock of slaughter in the land of Chanaan: and I will take for myself two rods; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Line; and I will tend the flock.

So I took care of the flock of death, for those who made profit out of the flock; and I took for myself two rods, naming one Beautiful, and the other Bands; and I took care of the flock.

8 And I will cut off three shepherds in one month; and my soul shall grieve over them, for their souls cried out against me.

And in one month I put an end to the three keepers of the flock; for my soul was tired of them, and their souls were disgusted with me.

9 And I said, I will not tend you: that which dies, let it die; and that which falls off, let it fall off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of his neighbor.

And I said, I will not take care of you: If death comes to any, let death be its fate; if any is cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest take one another's flesh for food.

10 And I will take my beautiful staff, and cast it away, that I may break my covenant which I made with all the people.

And I took my rod Beautiful, cutting it in two, so that the Lord's agreement, which he had made with all the peoples, might be broken.

11 And it shall be broken in that day; and the Chananites, the sheep that are kept for me, shall know that it is the word of the Lord.

And it was broken on that day: and the sheep-traders, who were watching me, were certain that it was the word of the Lord.

12 And I will say to them, If it be good in your eyes, give [me] my price, or refuse it. And they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

And I said to them, If it seems good to you, give me my payment; and if not, do not give it. So they gave me my payment by weight, thirty shekels of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, Drop them into the furnace, and I will see if it is good [metal], as I was proved for their sakes. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the furnace in the house of the Lord.

And the Lord said to me, Put it into the store-house, the price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty shekels of silver and put them into the store-house in the house of the Lord.

14 And I cast away [my] second rod, [even] Line, that I might break the possession between Juda and Israel.

Then I took my other rod, the one named Bands, cutting it in two, so that the relation of brothers between Judah and Israel might be broken.

15 And the Lord said to me, Take yet to you shepherd's implements belonging to an unskillful shepherd.

And the Lord said to me, Take again the instruments of a foolish keeper of sheep.

16 For, behold, I [will] raise up a shepherd against the land: he shall not visit that which is perishing, and he shall not seek that which is scattered, and he shall not heal that which is bruised, nor guide that which is whole: but he shall devour the flesh of the choice [ones], and shall dislocate the joints [of their necks].

For see, I will put a sheep-keeper over the land, who will have no care for that which is cut off, and will not go in search of the wanderers, or make well what is broken, and he will not give food to that which is ill, but he will take for his food the flesh of the fat, and let their feet be broken.

17 Alas for the vain shepherds that have forsaken the sheep! the sword [shall be] upon the arms of such a one, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be completely withered, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

A curse on the foolish keeper who goes away from the flock! the sword will be on his arm and on his right eye: his arm will become quite dry and his eye will be made completely dark.