Zechariah 11:4–11

Prophecy of the Shepherds

4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and efeel no guilt; those who sell them fsay, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do gnot 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 2attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”

7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, 3in particular hthe poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called 4Beauty, and the other I called 5Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I 6dismissed the three shepherds iin one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. jLet 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, 7Beauty, 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 kthe 8poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.