Zechariah 11:4-14
New King James Version
Prophecy of the Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and (A)feel no guilt; those who sell them (B)say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do (C)not pity 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 [a]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”
7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, [b]in particular (D)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [c]Beauty, and the other I called [d]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I [e]dismissed the three shepherds (E)in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. (F)Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, [f]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. Thus (G)the[g] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it is [h]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they (H)weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (I)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. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, [i]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. strike
- Zechariah 11:7 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX for the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Unity
- Zechariah 11:8 Or destroyed, lit. cut off
- Zechariah 11:10 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:12 good in your sight
- Zechariah 11:14 Or Unity
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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