Zechariah 11
New American Standard Bible
The Doomed Flock
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,
So that a (A)fire may feed on your (B)cedars.
2 Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen,
For the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
Because the [a]impenetrable forest has come down.
3 There is a sound of the shepherds’ (C)wail,
For their splendor is ruined;
There is a (D)sound of the young lions’ roar,
For the [b]pride of the Jordan is ruined.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to (E)slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and [c]go (F)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for (G)I have become rich!’ And their (H)own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will (I)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will (J)let the people fall, each into another’s [d]power and into the [e]power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will (K)not rescue them from their [f]power.”
7 So I (L)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, [g]therefore also the (M)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two (N)staffs: the one I called [h](O)Favor, and the other I called (P)Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in (Q)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also [i]was tired of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to (R)die, [j]let it die, and what is to perish, [k]let it perish; and [l]let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff [m](S)Favor and cut it in pieces, to [n](T)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was [o]broken on that day, and [p]so the (U)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my (V)wages; but if not, [q]never mind!” So they weighed out (W)thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (X)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff (Y)Union, to (Z)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a (AA)foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will (AB)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will (AC)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
17 (AD)Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who abandons the flock!
A (AE)sword will be on his arm
And on his right eye!
His (AF)arm will be totally withered,
And his right eye will be [r]blind.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:2 Another reading is forest of the vintage
- Zechariah 11:3 Or thicket
- Zechariah 11:5 Lit are not held guilty
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
- Zechariah 11:7 Another reading is for the sheep dealers
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Pleasantness
- Zechariah 11:8 Or detested
- Zechariah 11:9 Or will die
- Zechariah 11:9 Or will perish
- Zechariah 11:9 Or those...will eat
- Zechariah 11:10 Or Pleasantness
- Zechariah 11:10 Or annul
- Zechariah 11:11 Or annulled
- Zechariah 11:11 Another reading is the sheep dealers who
- Zechariah 11:12 Lit cease
- Zechariah 11:17 Lit completely dimmed
Zechariah 11
Common English Bible
11 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars.
2 Scream, cypress, for the cedar has fallen;
those majestic ones have been devastated.
Scream, oaks of Bashan, for the deep forest has fallen.
3 The sound of screaming appears among the shepherds
because their majesty has been devastated.
The sound of roaring can be heard among the young lions
because the pride of the Jordan has been devastated.
The shepherd’s two staffs
4 This is what the Lord my God says:
Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter.
5 Those who buy them will kill them,
but they will go unpunished.
Those who sell them will say,
“Blessed is the Lord, for I have become rich.”
And their own shepherds won’t spare them.
6 In fact, I will no longer spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
But look what I am about to bring upon humanity,
upon each of them by their neighbor’s hand and by the hand of their king:
They will beat the land to pieces,
but I won’t rescue anyone from their hand.
7 So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter,
the afflicted of the flock.[a]
I took two staffs for myself.
I named one Delight;
the other I named Harmony.
I shepherded the flock.
8 I removed three shepherds in one month
when I grew impatient with them.
Moreover, they detested me.
9 Then I said, “I won’t shepherd you.
Let the dying die,
and let what is to be removed be removed.
Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor.”
10 Then I took the staff Delight,
and I chopped it up in order to break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
11 It was broken on that day.
As a result, the afflicted[b] of the flock knew that it was the Lord’s word.
12 And I said to them,
“If it appears good to you, give me my wages;
but if not, then stop.”
So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver.
13 The Lord said to me,
“Put it in the treasury.[c]
They value me at too magnificent a price.”
So I took the thirty shekels[d] of silver
and put them in the treasury of the Lord’s house.
14 Then I chopped up my second staff Harmony,
to break the alliance between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me,
“Take for yourself again the equipment of a foolish shepherd,
16 because I am about to appoint a shepherd in the land.
He won’t tend to those who have been removed.
He won’t seek the young or heal the broken.
He won’t sustain the one standing.
Instead, he will devour the flesh of the fat ones, even tearing off their hooves.
17 Doom, foolish shepherd who forsakes the flock.
A sword will strike[e] his arm and his right eye.
His arm will wither completely;
his right eye will become blind.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:7 Heb uncertain
- Zechariah 11:11 Cf Zech 11:7
- Zechariah 11:13 Syr; MT to the potter
- Zechariah 11:13 Heb lacks shekels.
- Zechariah 11:17 Heb lacks will strike.
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