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11 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Wail, O fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the [a]goodly ones are destroyed: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the [b]strong forest is come down. 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 laid waste.

Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; whose [c]possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and [d]their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily [e]the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called [f]Beauty, and the other I called [g]Bands; and I fed the flock. And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and [h]that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another. 10 And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken in that day; and [i]thus [j]the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of Jehovah. 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. 13 And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of Jehovah. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not [k]visit those that are [l]cut off, neither will seek [m]those that are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which [n]is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 11:2 Or, glorious
  2. Zechariah 11:2 Or, fortified
  3. Zechariah 11:5 Or, buyers
  4. Zechariah 11:5 Or, their shepherd pitieth
  5. Zechariah 11:7 Or, the most miserable of sheep
  6. Zechariah 11:7 Or, Graciousness
  7. Zechariah 11:7 Or, Binders. Or, Union
  8. Zechariah 11:9 Or, that which is lost, let it be lost
  9. Zechariah 11:11 Or, the poor of the flock . . . knew of a truth
  10. Zechariah 11:11 Or, the most miserable of sheep
  11. Zechariah 11:16 Or, miss
  12. Zechariah 11:16 Or, lost
  13. Zechariah 11:16 Or, the young
  14. Zechariah 11:16 Hebrew standeth.

The Doomed Flock

11 Open your doors, O Lebanon,

That a (A)fire may feed on your (B)cedars.
Wail, O [a]cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
Because the glorious trees have been destroyed;
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
For the [b]impenetrable forest has come down.
There is a sound of the shepherds’ (C)wail,
For their glory is ruined;
There is a (D)sound of the young lions’ roar,
For the [c]pride of the Jordan is ruined.

Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to (E)slaughter. Those who buy them slay them and [d]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 pity on them. For I will (I)no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will (J)cause the men to [e]fall, each into another’s [f]power and into the [g]power of his king; and they will strike the land, and I will (K)not deliver them from their [h]power.”

So I (L)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, [i]hence the (M)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two (N)staffs: the one I called [j](O)Favor and the other I called [k](P)Union; so I pastured the flock. Then I annihilated the three shepherds in (Q)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also [l]was weary of me. Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to (R)die, [m]let it die, and what is to be annihilated, [n]let it be annihilated; and [o]let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff [p](S)Favor and cut it in pieces, to [q](T)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was [r]broken on that day, and [s]thus the (U)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my (V)wages; but if not, [t]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 [u](Y)Union, to (Z)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 The Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a [v](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 sustain the one standing, but will (AC)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

17 (AD)Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who leaves 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 [w]blind.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 11:2 Or juniper
  2. Zechariah 11:2 Another reading is forest of the vintage
  3. Zechariah 11:3 Or jungle
  4. Zechariah 11:5 Lit are not held guilty
  5. Zechariah 11:6 Lit find
  6. Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
  7. Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
  8. Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
  9. Zechariah 11:7 Another reading is for the sheep dealers
  10. Zechariah 11:7 Or Pleasantness
  11. Zechariah 11:7 Or Cords
  12. Zechariah 11:8 Or detested
  13. Zechariah 11:9 Or will die
  14. Zechariah 11:9 Or will be annihilated
  15. Zechariah 11:9 Or those...will eat
  16. Zechariah 11:10 Or Pleasantness
  17. Zechariah 11:10 Or annul
  18. Zechariah 11:11 Or annulled
  19. Zechariah 11:11 Another reading is the sheep dealers who
  20. Zechariah 11:12 Lit cease
  21. Zechariah 11:14 Or Cords
  22. Zechariah 11:15 Or useless
  23. Zechariah 11:17 Lit completely dimmed