Zechariah 11

Thus says God my God, “Shepherd the flock of slaughter

which the buyers kill and are not held guilty, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be God, for I have become rich!’ And their shepherds do not pity them.

Certainly I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land”—the declaration of God—“and behold, I am causing mankind to fall, each man, in the hand of his neighbor and in the hand of his king, and they will crush the land, and I will not deliver {them} from their hand.” \*

And I shepherded the flock of slaughter, therefore the poor of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs. For the one I called “Favor,” and for the other I called “Union,” and I shepherded the flock.

And I destroyed the three shepherds in one month. And my soul became short with them, and also their soul loathed me.

And I said, “I will not shepherd you. The one dying, let it die, and the one being destroyed, let it be destroyed, and the ones remaining, let them eat, each one, the flesh of her companion.” \*

And I took my staff Favor, and I chopped it up, to break my covenant that I had cut with all the peoples.

And it was broken on that day, and so the poor ones of the flock, the ones watching me, knew that it was the word of God.

And I said to them, “If it is good in your eyes, give my wages; but if not, refrain.” And they weighed out my wages, thirty {pieces} of silver. \*

And God said to me, “Throw it to the potter, the magnificence of the price at which I was valued by them!” And I took the thirty {pieces} of silver and threw it {into} the house of God, to the potter.

And I chopped up my second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and between Israel. \*

And God said to me, “Again, take for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd,

for behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land. He will not attend to the ones being destroyed; he will not seek the scattered one; and he will not heal the broken one; he will not sustain the one standing; but he will eat the flesh of the fat one, and he will tear off their hooves. \* 17 Woe, worthless shepherd, the one forsaking the flock! A sword against his arm and against his right eye! His arm withering will wither, and his right eye dimming will dim!” \*