Zechariah 11

1 Thou Liban, opene thi yatis, and fier schal ete thi cedris.

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

2 Yelle, thou fir tre, for the cedre felle doun, for grete men ben distried; yelle, ye okis of Basan, for the stronge welde wode is kit doun.

Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.

3 Vois of yellyng of schepherdis, for the greet worschip of hem is distried; vois of roryng of liouns, for the pride of Jordan is wastid.

A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed—a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

4 My Lord God seith these thingis, Fede thou beestis of slauyter,

The LORD my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.

5 whiche thei that weldiden slowen; and `sorewiden not, and selden hem, and seiden, Blessid be the Lord, we ben maad riche. And schepherdis of hem spariden not hem,

Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds do not pity them.

6 and Y schal no more spare on `men enhabitynge the erthe, seith the Lord. Lo! Y schal bitake men, ech in hond of his neiybour, and in hoond of his kyng, and thei schulen to-reende togidere the lond; and Y schal not delyuere fro the hond of hem,

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”

7 and Y schal fede the beeste of sleyng. For this thing, ye pore men of the floc, here. And Y took to me twei yerdis; oon Y clepide Fairnesse, and the tother Y clepide Litil Corde; and Y fedde the floc.

So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock.

8 And Y kittide doun thre scheepherdis in o monethe, and my soule is drawun togidere in hem; for also the soule of hem variede in me.

I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

9 And Y seide, Y schal not fede you; that that dieth, die; and that that is kit doun, be kit doun; and the residues deuoure, ech the fleisch of his neiybore.

Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”

10 And Y took my yerde, that was clepid Fairnesse, and Y kittide doun it, that Y schulde make void my couenaunt, that Y smoot with alle puplis.

I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

11 And it `is led forth voide in that dai; and the pore of floc that kepen to me, knewen thus, for it is the word of the Lord.

It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the LORD’s word.

12 And Y seide to hem, If it is good in youre iyen, brynge ye my meede; and if nai, reste ye. And thei weieden my meede, thretti platis of siluer.

I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord seide to me, Caste awei it to a makere of ymagis, the fair prijs, bi which Y am preisid of hem. And Y took thritti platis of siluer, and Y castide forth hem in the hous of the Lord, to the makere of ymagis.

The LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the LORD’s house.

14 And Y kittide doun my secunde yerde, that was clepide Litil Corde, that Y schulde departe the brotherhed bitwixe Juda and Israel.

Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord seide to me, Yit take to thee vessels of a fonned scheepherde;

The LORD said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

16 for lo! Y schal reise a scheepherde in erthe, which schal not visite forsakun thingis, schal not seke scatered thingis, and schal not heele `the brokun togidere, and schal not nurische forth that that stondith. And he schal ete fleischis of the fat, and schal vnbynde the clees of hem.

For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.

17 A! the scheepherd, and ydol, forsakynge the floc; swerd on his arm, and on his riyt iye; the arm of hym schal be dried with drynesse, and his riyt iye wexynge derk schal be maad derk.

Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”