Zechariah 11
World English Bible
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars.
2 Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen,
because the stately ones are destroyed.
Wail, you oaks of Bashan,
for the strong forest has come down.
3 A voice of the wailing of the shepherds!
For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions!
For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
4 Yahweh my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”
7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor”, and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock. 8 I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was Yahweh’s word. 12 I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in Yahweh’s house. 14 Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
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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