Zechariah 11

The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

1 Open your doors, k O Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, k oaks of Bashan,
for the thick forest has been felled!
3 The sound of l the wail of l the shepherds,
for their glory is ruined!
The sound of the roar of m the lions,
n for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

4 Thus said the Lord my God: o "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 p Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the Lord, q I have become rich,' and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For r 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 s So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named u Favor, the other I named v Union. s And I tended the sheep. 8 In one month w I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. x 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 y my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 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 seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them." And they weighed out as my wages z thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter" - a the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the z thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14 Then I broke b my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, "Take once more the equipment of c a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd d who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but e devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

17 f "Woe to my worthless shepherd,
g who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and h his right eye!
Let his arm be wholly withered,
his right eye utterly blinded!"

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:12 - 13
    For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up - and it shall be brought low.
  2. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:1
    Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 25:34
    Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 25:34
    Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 19:1 - 3
    And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:5
    If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
  7. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:7
    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. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:3
    You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
  9. Cross References
    Hosea 12:8
    Ephraim has said, "Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.
  10. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:14
    And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'
  11. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:4
    Thus said the Lord my God: "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.
  12. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:4
    Thus said the Lord my God: "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.
  13. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:10
    And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
  14. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:14
    Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
  15. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:3
    The sound of the wail of the shepherds, for the...
    Zechariah 11:16
    For behold, I am raising up in the land a sheph...
    Zechariah 10:3
    My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I wi...
    Jeremiah 22:11
    For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the s...
    Jeremiah 22:18
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiak...
    Jeremiah 22:24
    As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the...
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:2
    And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord : "'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.
  17. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:7
    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.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 21:32
    If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
    Matthew 26:15
    And said, "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
  19. Cross References
    Matthew 27:9 - 10
    Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel.
  20. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:12
    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.
  21. Cross References
    Zechariah 11:7
    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.
  22. Cross References
    2 Kings 24:18 - 20
    Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
  23. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:4
    The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
    John 10:13
    He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
  24. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:3
    You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
  25. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord.
  26. Cross References
    John 10:12
    He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
  27. Cross References
    2 Kings 25:7
    They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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