Zechariah 11:1-17

Lebanon, open your gates so fire may burn your cedar trees. Cry, pine trees, because the cedar has fallen, because the tall trees are ruined. Cry, oaks in Bashan, because the mighty forest has been cut down. Listen to the shepherds crying because their rich pastures are destroyed. Listen to the lions roaring because the lovely land of the Jordan River is ruined. This is what the LORD my God says: “Feed the flock that are about to be killed. Their buyers kill them and are not punished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the LORD, I am rich.’ Even the shepherds don’t feel sorry for their sheep. I don’t feel sorry anymore for the people of this country,” says the LORD. “I will let everyone be under the power of his neighbor and king. They will bring trouble to the country, and I will not save anyone from them.” So I fed the flock about to be killed, particularly the weakest ones. Then I took two sticks; I called one Pleasant and the other Union, and I fed the flock. In one month I got rid of three shepherds. The flock did not pay attention to me, and I got impatient with them. I said, “I will no longer take care of you like a shepherd. Let those that are dying die, and let those that are to be destroyed be destroyed. Let those that are left eat each other.” Then I broke the stick named Pleasant to break the agreement God made with all the nations. That day it was broken. The weak ones in the flock who were watching me knew this message was from the LORD. Then I said, “If you want to pay me, pay me. If not, then don’t.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. The LORD said to me, “Throw the money to the potter.” That is how little they thought I was worth. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the LORD. Then I broke the second stick, named Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. Then the LORD said to me, “Get the things used by a foolish shepherd again, because I am going to get a new shepherd for the country. He will not care for the dying sheep, or look for the young ones, or heal the injured ones, or feed the healthy. But he will eat the best sheep and tear off their hoofs. “How terrible it will be for the useless shepherd who abandoned the flock. A sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will lose all its strength, and his right eye will go blind.”