New King James Version

English Standard Version

Desolation of Israel

Open your doors, O Lebanon,
That fire may devour your cedars.

The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

Open your doors, O Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars!

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
Because the mighty trees are ruined.
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
For the thick forest has come down.

2

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
for the thick forest has been felled!

3

There is the sound of wailing shepherds!
For their glory is in ruins.
There is the sound of roaring lions!
For the [a]pride of the Jordan is in ruins.

3

The sound of the wail of the shepherds,
for their glory is ruined!
The sound of the roar of the lions,
for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

4

Prophecy of the Shepherds

Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter,

4

Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.

5

whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do not pity them.

5

Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them.

6

For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [b]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”

6

For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

7

So I fed the flock for slaughter, [c]in particular the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [d]Beauty, and the other I called [e]Bonds; and I fed the flock.

7

So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep.

8

I [f]dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

8

In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.

9

Then I said, “I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.”

9

So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.”

10

And I took my staff, [g]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

10

And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

11

So it was broken on that day. Thus the[h] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.

11

So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.

12

Then I said to them, “If it is [i]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

12

Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13

And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” — that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.

13

Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” — the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.

14

Then I cut in two my other staff, [j]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

14

Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15

And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.

15

Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

16

For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.

16

For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

17

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

17

“Woe to my worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
his right eye utterly blinded!”

Parallel

New King James Version

English Standard Version

Zechariah 11

Zechariah 11