Zechariah 11

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

Lebanon, open your gates, let the flames consume your majestic cedars.

Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

Weep, pine tree, for the mighty cedar has fallen; the powerful have been defeated. Cry out, oaks of Bashan, for the once thriving forest has been brought low.

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

Shepherds wail in despair, their honor tarnished; young lions roar in anger, for Jordan's pride has been shattered.

Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

The Lord, my God, says: Shepherd the flock that is marked for slaughter.

Whose possessors 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.

Those who buy them slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them thank God for their wealth, showing no compassion. Even their own leaders show no sympathy.

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.

God has declared, "I will no longer show mercy to the people of the land. Instead, I will hand every one of them over to their neighbors and their king. They will crush the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands."

And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, especially you, the downtrodden of the flock. I took two staffs, one called Beauty, the other called Unity, and with these, I cared for the flock.

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

In a single month, I ended my relationship with three shepherds. I grew to deeply dislike them, and they, in turn, developed a strong distaste for me.

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

I declared, I won't shepherd you anymore. Let what's dying, die; what's perishing, perish; and let the survivors devour one another's flesh.

And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

With a heavy heart, I split my staff, named Beauty, symbolizing the end of the promise I had made to everyone.

And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

On that day, it shattered. The humble ones who trusted me instantly recognized it as the Lord's message.

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

I told them, "If you value me, show it with a fair price. If not, then don't bother." They decided my worth was thirty silver coins.

And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

The LORD instructed me, "Give it to the potter, for that's the value they've placed on me." So, I took the thirty silver coins and handed them over to the potter in God's house, feeling a mix of sadness and resignation.

Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then, with a heavy heart, I broke my other staff, Bands, symbolizing the shattering of unity between Judah and Israel.

And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

And the LORD gently told me, "Embrace the tools of an unwise shepherd."

For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

Indeed, I will bring forth a leader who will not care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor mend the broken, nor nourish the stagnant. Instead, he will consume the prosperous and shatter their defenses.

Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Woe to the worthless shepherd who abandons his flock! A sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will wither completely, and his right eye will go totally blind.