Zechariah 11
Thirty Pieces of Silver Thrown to the Potter
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Open Your Doors, Lebanon
11:1Open your doors, Lebanon, and let fire devour your cedars!
11:2Let the pine wail, for the cedar has fallen, because the mighty have suffered greatly! Wail, Bashan’s oaks, for the thick-grown forest has been torn down!
11:3A sound of shepherds lamenting, for their greatness has suffered! A sound of lions roaring, for the Jordan’s proud swelling has suffered!
Shepherd the Sheep Destined for Slaughter
11:4Thus says the Lord Almighty: “Shepherd the sheep destined for slaughter,
11:5which their buyers were slaughtering without regret; their sellers said, ‘Blessed be the Lord; we have become rich!’ Their shepherds felt nothing for them.
11:6Therefore I will no longer spare the land’s residents, says the Lord. Look, I am handing over human beings, each into his neighbor’s hands and his king’s hands. They will cut the land to pieces, and I will certainly not rescue from their hand.”
11:7I will shepherd the sheep destined for slaughter into Canaan’s land. I will take two staffs for myself—I called one Beauty and the other Measuring Cord—and I will shepherd the sheep.
11:8I will remove the three shepherds in one month. My soul will be burdened over them, for their souls also roared against me.
11:9I said, “I will not shepherd you. Let the dying die, and let the failing fail; let those remaining each devour his neighbor’s flesh.”
11:10I will take my beautiful staff and throw it away, to dissolve my covenant that I made with all the peoples.
11:11It will be dissolved on that day, and the Canaanites—the sheep being guarded—will know that it is the Lord’s word.
My Wages Weighed Out
11:12I will say to them, “If it is good before you, weigh out and give my wages, or refuse.” They weighed out my wages: thirty silver pieces.
11:13The Lord said to me, “Put them into the smelting furnace and examine whether it is approved, as I was tested on their behalf.” I took the thirty silver pieces and threw them into the Lord’s house, into the smelting furnace.
11:14I threw away the second staff, Measuring Cord, to dissolve the possession between Judah and Israel.
The Worthless Shepherd
11:15The Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the shepherding equipment of an inexperienced shepherd.
11:16Look, I am raising up a shepherd over the land: he will certainly not attend to what is failing, seek what is scattered, heal what is broken or guide what is whole. He will devour the flesh of the choice ones and wrench their ankle bones.
11:17Oh, you who shepherd worthless things and have abandoned the sheep! A sword against his arms and his right eye! His arm will utterly wither, and his right eye will be completely blinded.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.