Zechariah 11-12

English Standard Version

The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

11 Open your doors, ^(A)O Lebanon,
    that the fire may devour your cedars!
²Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
    for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, ^(B)oaks of Bashan,
    for the thick forest has been felled!
³The sound of ^(C)the wail of ^(D)the shepherds,
    for their glory is ruined!
The sound of the roar of ^(E)the lions,
    ^(F)for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

⁴Thus said the Lord my God: ^(G)“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. ⁵^(H)Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, ^(I)I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶For ^(J)I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

⁷^(K)So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named ^(L)Favor, the other I named ^(M)Union. ^(N)And I tended the sheep. ⁸In one month ^(O)I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. ⁹So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. ^(P)What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” ¹⁰And I took ^(Q)my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. ¹²Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages ^(R)thirty pieces of silver. ¹³Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—^(S)the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the ^(T)thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. ¹⁴Then I broke ^(U)my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of ^(V)a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd ^(W)who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but ^(X)devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

¹⁷^(Y)“Woe to my worthless shepherd,
    ^(Z)who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
    and ^(AA)his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
    his right eye utterly blinded!”

The Lord Will Give Salvation

12 ^(AB)The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, ^(AC)who stretched out the heavens and ^(AD)founded the earth and ^(AE)formed the spirit of man within him: ²“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem ^(AF)a cup of staggering to ^(AG)all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem ^(AH)will also be against Judah. ³^(AI)On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. ^(AJ)All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And ^(AK)all the nations of the earth will gather against it. ⁴^(AL)On that day, declares the Lord, ^(AM)I will strike every horse ^(AN)with panic, and its rider ^(AO)with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples ^(AP)with blindness. ⁵Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

⁶^(AQ)“On that day I will make the clans of Judah ^(AR)like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And ^(AS)they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while ^(AT)Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

⁷“And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. ⁸^(AU)On that day ^(AV)the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that ^(AW)the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, ^(AX)like the angel of the Lord, going before them. ⁹^(AY)And on that day ^(AZ)I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

¹⁰“And ^(BA)I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and ^(BB)pleas for mercy, so that, ^(BC)when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, ^(BD)they shall mourn for him, ^(BE)as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. ¹¹^(BF)On that day ^(BG)the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great ^(BH)as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹²The land shall mourn, ^(BI)each family^[a] by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of ^(BJ)Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹³the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of ^(BK)the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Footnotes

Zechariah 12:12 Or clan; throughout verses 12–14

Zechariah 11-12

New International Version

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,^(A)
    so that fire^(B) may devour your cedars!
²Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks^(C) of Bashan;
    the dense forest^(D) has been cut down!^(E)
³Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;^(F)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!^(G)

Two Shepherds

⁴This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.^(H) ⁵Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.^(I) ⁶For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors^(J) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”^(K)

⁷So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,^(L) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested^(M) me, and I grew weary of them ⁹and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.^(N) Let those who are left eat^(O) one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰Then I took my staff called Favor^(P) and broke it, revoking^(Q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. ¹¹It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

¹²I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.^(R)

¹³And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver^(S) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.^(T)

¹⁴Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷“Woe to the worthless shepherd,^(U)
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm^(V) and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”^(W)

Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed

12 A prophecy:^(X) The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens,^(Y) who lays the foundation of the earth,^(Z) and who forms the human spirit within a person,^(AA) declares: ²“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup^(AB) that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.^(AC) Judah^(AD) will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. ³On that day, when all the nations^(AE) of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock^(AF) for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure^(AG) themselves. ⁴On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.^(AH) ⁵Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,^(AI) because the Lord Almighty is their God.’

⁶“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot^(AJ) in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume^(AK) all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact^(AL) in her place.

⁷“The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.^(AM) ⁸On that day the Lord will shield^(AN) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest^(AO) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,^(AP) like the angel of the Lord going before^(AQ) them. ⁹On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations^(AR) that attack Jerusalem.^(AS)

Mourning for the One They Pierced

¹⁰“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit^[a]^(AT) of grace and supplication.^(AU) They will look on^[b] me, the one they have pierced,^(AV) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,^(AW) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.^(AX) ¹¹On that day the weeping^(AY) in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.^(AZ) ¹²The land will mourn,^(BA) each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴and all the rest of the clans and their wives.^(BB)

Footnotes

Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
Zechariah 12:10 Or to

English Standard Version (ESV)

New International Version (NIV)

Zechariah 11-12

English Standard Version

The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

The Lord Will Give Salvation

Him Whom They Have Pierced

Footnotes

Cross references

Zechariah 11-12

New International Version

Two Shepherds

Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed

Mourning for the One They Pierced

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Zechariah 11-12 English Standard Version

The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

The Lord Will Give Salvation

Him Whom They Have Pierced

Footnotes

Cross references

Zechariah 11-12 New International Version

Two Shepherds

Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed

Mourning for the One They Pierced

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Zechariah 11-12

English Standard Version

Zechariah 11-12

New International Version