Zechariah 11

Zechariah 11

1Open your doors, O Lebanon,[#Jer 22:6–7]

so the fire can consume your cedar.

2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen;

the majestic trees are destroyed.

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

because the unassailable forest has been brought down.

3There is the sound of wailing shepherds,[#Jer 25:34–36]

because their glory is ruined.

There is the sound of roaring lions,

because the pride of Jordan is ruined.

Two Kinds of Shepherds

4Thus says the Lord my God: Shepherd the flock of slaughter.[#Zec 11:7]

5The ones who buy them then slaughter them and have no guilt, and those who sell them say, “Blessed is the Lord because I am rich.” Their own shepherds do not take pity on them.[#Jer 50:7; #Hos 12:8]

6For I will no longer have pity on those who dwell in the land, says the Lord . But I will cause each of them to fall into the hands of his neighbor, even into the hands of his king. They will crush the land, and I will not deliver any from their hands.[#Jer 13:14; #Isa 9:19–21]

7So I shepherded the flock that was for slaughter, even the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs. One I called Favor and the other I gave the name Union. So I pastured the flock.[#Zec 11:14]

8I destroyed the three shepherds in the span of one month.

For my soul was impatient with them, and their souls detested me.

9Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left devour each other’s flesh.”[#Jer 43:11]

10I took the staff named Favor and cut it into pieces, to break the covenant that I made with all the peoples.[#Ps 89:39]

11So it was broken that day, and the afflicted of the flock were watching me and knew that this was the word of the Lord .

12Then I said to them, “If this is good in your eyes, then give my wages to me, but if not, then keep it.” They weighed my wages at thirty pieces of silver.[#Ex 21:32; Mt 26:15]

13Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, the splendid price by which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the house of the Lord to the potter.[#Mt 27:3–10; Ac 1:18–19]

14Then I cut up the second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15Then the Lord said to me: Take for yourself again the vessels carried by a foolish shepherd.

16For I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor feed those who are standing still. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hoofs in pieces.[#Jer 23:2; Eze 34:2–6]

17Woe to this worthless shepherd

who abandons his flock.

May the sword take his arm and right eye;

may his arm surely wither up,

and his right eye become blind.

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Published by: United Bible Association