Zechariah 11:1-11

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.