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
Christian Standard Bible
Israel’s Shepherds: Good and Bad
11 Open your gates, Lebanon,
and fire will consume your cedars.(A)
2 Wail, cypress,(B) for the cedar has fallen;
the glorious trees are destroyed!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,(C)
for the stately forest has fallen!
3 Listen to the wail(D) of the shepherds,(E)
for their glory is destroyed.
Listen to the roar of young lions,(F)
for the thickets of the Jordan(G) are[a] destroyed.
4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished.(H) Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord because I have become rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, I will turn everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue it from their hand.”(I)
7 So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter, the oppressed of the flock.[b] I took two staffs, calling one Favor(J) and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let what is dying die, and let what is perishing perish; let the rest devour each other’s flesh.” 10 Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples. 11 It was annulled on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock[c] who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver.(K)
13 “Throw it to the potter,”[d] the Lord said to me—this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.[e](L) 14 Then I cut in two my second staff, Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 The Lord also said to me, “Take the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, and he will not seek the lost[f] or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy,[g] but he will devour the flesh of the fat sheep(M) and tear off their hooves.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.