Zechariah 11
The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings
11:1 Open your gates, Lebanon,
so that the fire may consume your cedars.1
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.
11:3 Listen to the howling of shepherds,
because their magnificence has been destroyed.
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.
11:4 The
11:7 So I3 began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted4 of all the flock. Then I took two staffs,5 calling one “Pleasantness”6 and the other “Binders,”7 and I tended the flock. 11:8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month,8 for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 11:9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”
11:10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people.
11:11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that that was the word of the
11:12 Then I9 said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment – thirty pieces of silver.10
11:13 The
11:15 Again the
11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”