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Two Kinds of Shepherds

“Thus says the Lord my God: Be a shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.(A) Those who buy them kill them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them.(B) For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord. I will cause them, every one, to fall each into the hand of a neighbor and each into the hand of the king, and they shall devastate the earth, and I will deliver no one from their hand.”(C)

So on behalf of the sheep merchants,[a] I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. I took two staffs; one I named Favor, the other I named Unity, and I tended the sheep.(D) In one month I disposed of the three shepherds, for I had become impatient with them, and they also detested me.(E) So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another!” 10 I took my staff Favor and broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.(F) 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep merchants[b] who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord.(G) 12 I then said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages, but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver.(H) 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it into the treasury”[c]—this lordly price at which I was valued by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury[d] in the house of the Lord.(I) 14 Then I broke my second staff Unity, annulling the family ties between Judah and Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 11.7 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 11.11 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 11.13 Syr: Heb it to the potter
  4. 11.13 Syr: Heb it to the potter

The Shepherd

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for[a] slaughter. 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. 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[b] of his neighbor and into the control[c] of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control.”[d]

So I became shepherd of the flock marked for[e] 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. In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me. 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[f] 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.[g]

13 Then the Lord told me, “Throw the money[h] into the treasury[i]—that magnificent value they placed on me!”

So I took the 30 shekels of[j] silver and threw them into the treasury[k] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 11:4 Lit. flock of the
  2. Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
  3. Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
  4. Zechariah 11:6 Lit. hand
  5. Zechariah 11:7 Lit. flock of the
  6. Zechariah 11:11 Lit. day
  7. Zechariah 11:12 The Heb. lacks a specific unit of measurement
  8. Zechariah 11:13 The Syr reads Throw it
  9. Zechariah 11:13 According to Syr
  10. Zechariah 11:13 The Heb. lacks a specific unit of measurement
  11. Zechariah 11:13 According to Syr