Zechariah 11:1-13 ▼

1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, That the fire may devour thy cedars.

2 Wail, O cypress-tree, for the cedar is fallen; Because the glorious ones are spoiled; Wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, For the strong forest is come down.

3 Hark! the wailing of the shepherds, For their glory is spoiled; Hark! the roaring of young lions, For the thickets of the Jordan are spoiled.

4 Thus said the LORD my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter;

5 whose buyers slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say: Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.

6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.'

7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Graciousness, and the other I called Binders; and I fed the flock.

8 And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; 'for My soul became impatient of them, and their soul also loathed Me.'

9 Then said I: 'I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.'

10 And I took my staff Graciousness, and cut it asunder, 'that I might break My covenant which I had made with all the peoples.'

11 And it was broken in that day; and the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew of a truth that it was the word of the LORD.

12 And I said unto them: 'If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear.' So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the LORD said unto me: 'Cast it into the treasury, the goodly price that I was prized at of them.' And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the treasury, in the house of the LORD.