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Zechariah 11
English Standard Version
Zechariah 11
English Standard Version
The Flock Doomed to Slaughter
11 Open your doors, (A)O Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, 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!
3 The 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!
4 Thus 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. 6 For (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. 8 In one month (O)I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 So 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.” 10 And I took (Q)my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then 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. 13 Then 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. 14 Then I broke (U)my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of (V)a foolish shepherd. 16 For 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.
Zechariah 11
New Catholic Bible
Zechariah 11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 11
1 Open your doors, O Lebanon,
so that the fire may devour your cedars.
2 Wail, you cypress trees,
for the cedars have fallen,
the majestic trees have been ravaged.
Wail, you oaks of Bashan,
for the impenetrable forest has been felled.
3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their majesty has been destroyed.
Listen to the roar of the lions,
for the dense thickets of the Jordan have been ravaged.
The New Shepherd of Israel
The Two Shepherds.[a] 4 Thus says the Lord, my God: Be a shepherd to the flock destined for slaughter. 5 Those who buy them kill them and go unpunished, while those who sell them say, “Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich.” Even their own shepherds feel no pity for them.
6 I will no longer have any pity for the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord. Rather, I will deliver each one of them into the power of his neighbor or into the clutches of the king. They will devastate the earth, and I will not deliver anyone from their hands.
7 And so I became a shepherd of the flock that was destined to be slaughtered by the sheep dealers. I took two staffs, one of which I named Favor and the other one of which I named Unity, and I pastured the sheep myself. 8 In a single month I got rid of the three shepherds. However, I soon lost patience with the flock, and they detested me.
9 Finally I said. “I will not be your shepherd any longer. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Those who are left can devour one another.”
10 Then I took my staff “Favor” and snapped it in two, thereby annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples. 11 Therefore, it was annulled on that day, and the dealers who were watching me realized that this was the word of the Lord. 12 I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; if not, then forget about it.” Then they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
13 However, the Lord said to me, “Throw it into the treasury—the princely sum at which they valued my efforts.” Therefore, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 14 Then I broke my second staff, “Unity,” in half, annulling the ties of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 The Lord thereupon said to me: Take once again the equipment of a worthless shepherd. 16 For I am now going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will have no concern for those who are perishing, nor go off in search of the strays, nor heal the injured, nor nourish those who survive, but who will eat the meat of the fat animals, tearing off even their hoofs.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons his flock.
May the sword fall upon his arm
and upon his right eye.
Let his arm be completely withered
and his right eye be totally blinded.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:4 The separation of the Samaritans became final around 328 B.C., and foreign invasions will occur from the fourth to the second century. At the end, an editor has added a curse against a wicked leader. Matthew 27:9-10 quite rightly applies to Jesus what is said (Zec 11:12-13) about the derisive wage of thirty pieces of silver: the one who came to save humankind was repaid with hatred and betrayal.
Zechariah 11
New International Version
Zechariah 11
New International Version
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(A)
so that fire(B) may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, 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)
3 Listen 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
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(H) 5 Their 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) 6 For 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)
7 So 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. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested(M) me, and I grew weary of them 9 and 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.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favor(P) and broke it, revoking(Q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
12 I 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)
13 And 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)
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For 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.
Zechariah 11
King James Version
Zechariah 11
King James Version
11 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy 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.
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.
4 Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the 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.
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.
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.
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
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.
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.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.