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
International Standard Version
Destruction of Lebanon and Bashan
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,
and fire will consume your cedars.[a]
2 Wail, cypress tree,
for the cedar has fallen
while the stately trees are destroyed.
Wail, oak trees of Bashan,
for the old growth forest has been cut down.
3 Hear[b] the wailing of the shepherds,
for the magnificence of the forest[c] is ruined!
Hear[d] the roar of the lions,
for the Jordan’s arrogance is ruined!
The Shepherd
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for[e] slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them without being punished, continuing to sell them as they say, ‘Bless the Lord!’ and, ‘I’m rich!’ Meanwhile, their shepherds show them no compassion. 6 Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land,” declares the Lord. “Look! I will deliver every single person into the control[f] of his neighbor and into the control[g] of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control.”[h]
7 So I became shepherd of the flock marked for[i] slaughter, paying attention to the oppressed of the flock. I took two staffs—naming one “Pleasant” and the other one “Union”—and then I pastured the flock. 8 In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me. 9 So I said, “I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other.”
10 Then I took the staff that I had named “Pleasant” and broke it, showing I was breaking my covenant that I had made with all of the people. 11 It was broken at that time[j] so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the Lord.
12 I told them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me what I’ve earned. But if it isn’t, don’t.”
So they paid out what I had earned—30 pieces of silver.[k]
13 Then the Lord told me, “Throw the money[l] into the treasury[m]—that magnificent value they placed on me!”
So I took the 30 shekels of[n] silver and threw them into the treasury[o] of the Temple of the Lord. 14 Then I broke my second staff—the one I had named “Union”—breaking the union between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.
God’s Curse on the Worthless Shepherd
15 The Lord told me, “Pick up the tools of a worthless shepherd again, 16 for I am now raising up a shepherd in the land who will neither search for the lost, nor care for the young, nor fix the broken, nor sustain the healthy. Instead, he will devour the meat of the best of the sheep, tearing off their hoofs.”
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and his right eye.
May his arm wither
and his right eye be completely blind.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:1 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae; and so throughout the chapter
- Zechariah 11:3 The Heb. lacks Hear
- Zechariah 11:3 The Heb. lacks of the forest
- Zechariah 11:3 The Heb. lacks Hear
- Zechariah 11:4 Lit. flock of the
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
- Zechariah 11:7 Lit. flock of the
- Zechariah 11:11 Lit. day
- Zechariah 11:12 The Heb. lacks a specific unit of measurement
- Zechariah 11:13 The Syr reads Throw it
- Zechariah 11:13 According to Syr
- Zechariah 11:13 The Heb. lacks a specific unit of measurement
- Zechariah 11:13 According to Syr
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