Zechariah

Zechariah 11

Lebanon’s Cedars Fall

1 Open your doors, Lebanon, so fire may devour your cedars.

2 Wail, pine tree, because the cedar has fallen and the mighty have suffered greatly. Wail, oaks of Bashan, because the dense forest has been torn down.

3 Listen to the shepherds mourning because their greatness has been brought low. Listen to the lions roaring because the pride of the Jordan has been brought down.

The Shepherd of the Flock Marked for Slaughter

4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Tend the sheep marked for slaughter.

5 Their owners slaughter them without regret, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, because we have become rich.’ “Their shepherds feel no sorrow for them. 6 So I will no longer spare the land’s inhabitants,” says the Lord. “Look — I will hand every person over to his neighbor and his king. They will destroy the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hand.” 7 So I will tend the flock marked for slaughter in the land of Canaan. I will take two staffs for myself: one I called Beauty, and the other I called Line. And I will tend the flock. 8 I will remove the three shepherds in one month, and my soul will be grieved over them, because their souls cried out against me.

9 Then I said, “I will not tend you. Let what is dying die, and let what falls away fall away. Let those who remain eat one another’s flesh.” 10 Then I will take my beautiful staff and throw it away, to break the covenant I made with all the peoples. 11 It will be broken that day, and the Canaanites — the sheep being kept — will know that this is the word of the Lord. 12 I will say to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; otherwise, refuse.” They weighed out my wages: thirty pieces of silver.

13 The Lord said to me, “Drop them into the furnace, and see whether it is good metal, as I was tested for their sake.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the furnace in the Lord’s house. 14 Then I threw away my second staff, Line, breaking the possession shared by Judah and Israel.

The Worthless Shepherd

15 The Lord said to me, “Now take the equipment of an unskilled shepherd. 16 Look — I will raise up a shepherd against the land. He will not visit the one who is perishing, seek the scattered, heal the bruised, or guide the healthy. Instead, he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and dislocate their necks.

17 How terrible for the worthless shepherds who abandoned the sheep! The sword will strike his arms and his right eye. His arm will wither completely, and his right eye will go entirely dark.”