The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

Zechariah 11

1 Open a your doors, O Lebanon,
That fire may devour your cedars. 2 Wail, O cypress, for the b cedar has fallen,
Because the mighty trees are ruined.
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
c For the thick forest has come down. 3 There is the sound of wailing d shepherds!
For their glory is in ruins.
There is the sound of roaring lions!
For the 1 pride of the Jordan is in ruins.

4 Thus says the LORD my God, "Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 "whose owners slaughter them and e feel no guilt; those who sell them f say, 'Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich'; and their shepherds do g 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 2 attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand."

7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, 3 in particular h the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called 4 Beauty, and the other I called 5 Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I 6 dismissed the three shepherds i in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, "I will not feed you. j 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, 7 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 k the 8 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 9 agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they l weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the m 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, 10 Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the LORD said to me, n "Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 "For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in o pieces.

17 "Woe p to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded."

  1. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:10
    I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt, And gather them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, Until no more room is found for them.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 31:3
    Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 32:19
    Though hail comes down on the forest, And the city is brought low in humiliation.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 25:34 - 36
    Wail, shepherds, and cry! Roll about in the ashes, You leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled; You shall fall like a precious vessel.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:3
    Israel was holiness to the LORD, The firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; Disaster will come upon them," says the LORD.'
    Jeremiah 50:7
    All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, 'We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 29:19
    And so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart' - as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
    Hosea 12:8
    And Ephraim said, 'Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.
    1 Timothy 6:9
    But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:2
    Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
    Ezekiel 34:3
    You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 39:10
    But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
    Zephaniah 3:12
    I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
    Matthew 11:5
    The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
  9. Cross References
    Hosea 5:7
    They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
  10. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:2
    "And it shall be, if they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Such as are for death, to death; And such as are for the sword, to the sword; And such as are for the famine, to the famine; And such as are for the captivity, to the captivity."'
  11. Cross References
    Zephaniah 3:12
    I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
    Matthew 27:50
    And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
    Mark 15:37
    And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
    Luke 23:46
    And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.
    Acts 8:32
    The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 37:28
    Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
    Exodus 21:32
    If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
    Matthew 26:15
    And said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.
    Matthew 27:9
    Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced.
    Matthew 27:10
    "and gave them for the potter's field, as the LORD directed me."
  13. Cross References
    Matthew 27:3 - 10
    Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
    Acts 1:18
    (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.
    Acts 1:19
    And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:11
    Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory.
    Ezekiel 34:2
    Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:1 - 10
    And the word of the LORD came to me, saying.
    Micah 3:1 - 3
    And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter th...
    Ezekiel 34:2
    Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of I...
    Zechariah 10:2
    For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envi...
    Zechariah 11:15
    And the LORD said to me, "Next, take for yourse...
    John 10:12
    But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one...
    John 10:13
    The hireling flees because he is a hireling and...
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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