Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, [O] Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars!
2 Wail, O juniper, for [the] cedar has fallen, for [the] magnificent [trees] are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down!
3 [Listen to] the wailing of the shepherds, for their splendor is ruined! [Listen to] the roar of [the] young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!

The Two Shepherds

4 Thus says Yahweh my God: "Shepherd the flock [doomed] to slaughter.
5 The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed [be] Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
6 For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land," {declares} Yahweh. "Look, I [am] going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver [anyone] from their hand."
7 And I shepherded the flock [doomed] to slaughter, even the afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.
8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for {I grew impatient} with them, and {they also became tired of me}.
9 So I said, "I will not shepherd you! The [one] dying will die, and the [one] to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the [ones] remaining, let them devour {the flesh of each other}."
10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I {had made} with all the peoples.
11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted of the flock, the [ones who were] watching me, knew that it [was] the word of Yahweh.
12 And I said to them, "If {it seems right to you}, give [me] my wages, but if not, {keep them}." And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels].
13 And Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter," {this noble price} [at] which I was valued by them!" So I took the thirty silver [shekels] and I threw them to the potter [in] the house of Yahweh.
14 Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yahweh said to me, "Take again the implements of a foolish shepherd.
16 For look, I [am] raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the [ones that are] perishing; he will not seek the young man, he will not heal the [ones that are] crushed and he will not sustain the healthy [ones]; he will devour the flesh of the {fattened ones} and tear apart [even] their hoofs.
17 "Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! [May] a sword [fall] on his arm and on {his right eye}! May his arm wither completely and {his right eye} be utterly blinded!"

Footnotes 25

  • [a]. Or "cypress"
  • [b]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [c]. Literally "declaration of"
  • [d]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [e]. Hebrew "therefore"
  • [f]. LXX reads "merchants [of the flock]" which is reflected in some English translations
  • [g]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [h]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [i]. Literally "my soul became short"
  • [j]. Literally "also their soul detested me"
  • [k]. Literally "each the flesh of her neighbor"
  • [l]. Literally "had cut"
  • [m]. LXX reads "merchants (of the flock)" which is reflected in some English translations
  • [n]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [o]. Literally "[it is] good in your eyes"
  • [p]. Literally "refrain"
  • [q]. Syriac reads "treasury," followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV
  • [r]. Literally "the price of honor"
  • [s]. Syriac reads "treasury," followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV
  • [t]. Hebrew "implement"
  • [u]. Syriac and other ancient versions read "the wandering" or "the scattered," as do several English translations
  • [v]. Literally "the stall-fed"
  • [w]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  • [x]. Literally "the eye of his right"
  • [y]. Literally "the eye of his right"

Zechariah 11 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.