Zechariah 11:1-17, NLT
Zechariah 11
1Open your doors, Lebanon,
so that fire may devour your cedar forests.
2Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars;
the most majestic ones have fallen.
Weep, you oaks of Bashan,
for the thick forests have been cut down.
3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their rich pastures are destroyed.
Hear the young lions roaring,
for their thickets in the Jordan Valley are ruined.
The Good and Evil Shepherds
4This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter.
7So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter—the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs and named one Favor and the other Union.
But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.
10Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations.
12And I said to them, “If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.” So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter*11:13 Syriac version reads into the treasury; also in 11:13b. Compare Matt 27:6-10.”—this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.
14Then I took my other staff, Union, and cut it in two, showing that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken.
15Then the Lord said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd.
17“What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
The sword will cut his arm
and pierce his right eye.
His arm will become useless,
and his right eye completely blind.”