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Zechariah 11-12
Common English Bible
Zechariah 11-12
Common English Bible
11 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars.
2 Scream, cypress, for the cedar has fallen;
those majestic ones have been devastated.
Scream, oaks of Bashan, for the deep forest has fallen.
3 The sound of screaming appears among the shepherds
because their majesty has been devastated.
The sound of roaring can be heard among the young lions
because the pride of the Jordan has been devastated.
The shepherd’s two staffs
4 This is what the Lord my God says:
Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter.
5 Those who buy them will kill them,
but they will go unpunished.
Those who sell them will say,
“Blessed is the Lord, for I have become rich.”
And their own shepherds won’t spare them.
6 In fact, I will no longer spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
But look what I am about to bring upon humanity,
upon each of them by their neighbor’s hand and by the hand of their king:
They will beat the land to pieces,
but I won’t rescue anyone from their hand.
7 So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter,
the afflicted of the flock.[a]
I took two staffs for myself.
I named one Delight;
the other I named Harmony.
I shepherded the flock.
8 I removed three shepherds in one month
when I grew impatient with them.
Moreover, they detested me.
9 Then I said, “I won’t shepherd you.
Let the dying die,
and let what is to be removed be removed.
Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor.”
10 Then I took the staff Delight,
and I chopped it up in order to break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
11 It was broken on that day.
As a result, the afflicted[b] of the flock knew that it was the Lord’s word.
12 And I said to them,
“If it appears good to you, give me my wages;
but if not, then stop.”
So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver.
13 The Lord said to me,
“Put it in the treasury.[c]
They value me at too magnificent a price.”
So I took the thirty shekels[d] of silver
and put them in the treasury of the Lord’s house.
14 Then I chopped up my second staff Harmony,
to break the alliance between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me,
“Take for yourself again the equipment of a foolish shepherd,
16 because I am about to appoint a shepherd in the land.
He won’t tend to those who have been removed.
He won’t seek the young or heal the broken.
He won’t sustain the one standing.
Instead, he will devour the flesh of the fat ones, even tearing off their hooves.
17 Doom, foolish shepherd who forsakes the flock.
A sword will strike[e] his arm and his right eye.
His arm will wither completely;
his right eye will become blind.”
Jerusalem on that day
12 A pronouncement. The Lord’s word against Israel,
an utterance of the Lord
who stretches out the heavens,
who establishes the earth,
and who fashions the spirit of humanity within it:
2 I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that will stagger all the surrounding nations.
There will be a siege against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 On that day I will make Jerusalem into a heavy stone[f] for all the peoples.
All who carry it will hurt themselves;
nevertheless, the nations of the earth will conspire against it.
4 On that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion
and its rider with madness.
I will keep my eyes open for the house of Judah;
I will strike blind every horse of the peoples.
5 The chieftains of Judah will say to themselves, We are strong;
the inhabitants of Jerusalem will say,
The Lord their God of heavenly forces is strong.[g]
6 On that day I will place the chieftains of Judah like a pot on a wood fire and like a burning torch among the bundles of grain.
They will devour all the surrounding nations to the right and the left.
Jerusalem will dwell again in its place, in Jerusalem.
7 The Lord will first deliver the tents of Judah so that the splendor of David’s house
and the splendor of Jerusalem’s inhabitants won’t overshadow Judah.
8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Anyone among them who stumbles on that day will become like David,
and David’s house will become like God,
like the Lord’s messenger in front of them.
9 On that day I intend to destroy all the nations who come against Jerusalem,
10 but I will pour out a spirit of grace and mercy on David’s house
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They will look to me concerning the one whom they pierced;
they will mourn over him like the mourning for an only child.
They will mourn bitterly over him like the bitter mourning over the death of[h] an oldest child.
11 On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem
will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the Megiddo Valley.
12 The land will mourn, each of the clans by itself:
the clan of David’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
the clan of Nathan’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
13 the clan of Levi’s house by themselves, and their women by themselves;
and the Shimeites’ clan by themselves, and their women by themselves;
14 and all the remaining clans, each clan by itself, and their women by themselves.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 11:7 Heb uncertain
- Zechariah 11:11 Cf Zech 11:7
- Zechariah 11:13 Syr; MT to the potter
- Zechariah 11:13 Heb lacks shekels.
- Zechariah 11:17 Heb lacks will strike.
- Zechariah 12:3 Heb uncertain
- Zechariah 12:5 Heb uncertain
- Zechariah 12:10 Heb lacks the death of.
Zechariah 11-12
New International Version
Zechariah 11-12
New International Version
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(A)
so that fire(B) may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(C) of Bashan;
the dense forest(D) has been cut down!(E)
3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;(F)
the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!(G)
Two Shepherds
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(H) 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.(I) 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors(J) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”(K)
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,(L) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested(M) me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.(N) Let those who are left eat(O) one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favor(P) and broke it, revoking(Q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.(R)
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver(S) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.(T)
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,(U)
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm(V) and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”(W)
Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed
12 A prophecy:(X) The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who stretches out the heavens,(Y) who lays the foundation of the earth,(Z) and who forms the human spirit within a person,(AA) declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup(AB) that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.(AC) Judah(AD) will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations(AE) of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock(AF) for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure(AG) themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.(AH) 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,(AI) because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot(AJ) in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume(AK) all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact(AL) in her place.
7 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.(AM) 8 On that day the Lord will shield(AN) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest(AO) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,(AP) like the angel of the Lord going before(AQ) them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations(AR) that attack Jerusalem.(AS)
Mourning for the One They Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a](AT) of grace and supplication.(AU) They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced,(AV) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,(AW) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.(AX) 11 On that day the weeping(AY) in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.(AZ) 12 The land will mourn,(BA) each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.(BB)
Footnotes
- Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
- Zechariah 12:10 Or to
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.