Zechariah 11:4–14

⁴This is what the Lord my God says: Take care of the sheep that are about to be slaughtered. ⁵Those who buy them will kill them and go unpunished. Those who sell them will say, “Praise the Lord! I’ve become rich!” Even their own shepherds will have no pity on them. 

⁶The Lord declares, “I will no longer have pity on those who live in the land. I am going to hand the people over to their neighbors and their king, who will crush the land. And I won’t rescue any of them from their power.” 

⁷So I became the shepherd of the sheep that were to be slaughtered and also of the oppressed sheep. I took two shepherd staffs and named one Favor and the other Unity. And I took care of the sheep. ⁸I got rid of three shepherds in one month. I became impatient with the sheep, and they also became disgusted with me. ⁹So I said, “I won’t be your shepherd. Let those that are dying die. Let those that are missing stay missing. And let those that are left devour each other.” 

¹⁰Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it in pieces, to break the promise^athat I had made to all the nations. ¹¹So it was broken on that day, and the oppressed among the sheep who were watching me realized that it was the Lord’s word. 

¹²Then I said to them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me my wages. But if it’s not, don’t.” And they paid me my wages—30 pieces of silver. 

¹³The Lord told me, “Give it to the potter.” So I took the 30 pieces of silver. Such a magnificent price was set by them! I gave the pieces of silver to the potter at the house of the Lord. 

¹⁴Then I broke my second staff, called Unity, in pieces, to break off the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.