Zechariahchapter 11
17 verses · BSBZechariah book hub →
A.Open your doors, Lebanon — the shepherds howlvv. 1-6
1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars! 2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down! 3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed. 4 This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter, 5 whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”
B.Two staffs, Beauty and Bands, both brokenvv. 7-11
7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. 8 And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me. 9 Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.” 10 Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
C.Weighed out thirty pieces of silver for his wagesvv. 12-14
12 Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 14 Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
D.The worthless shepherd who abandons the flockvv. 15-17
15 And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
Chapter summary
The dark chapter, between two chapters of glory.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Chapter summary
The dark chapter, between two chapters of glory.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
The dark chapter, between two chapters of glory. Fire devours Lebanon's cedars, shepherds wail, young lions roar over the ruined pride of the Jordan. Then Zechariah is made to act it out: 'Feed the flock of slaughter; whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty,' while traders say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich. He takes two staves, Beauty and Bands, and breaks Beauty, annulling the covenant. Then he asks his wage and they weigh out thirty pieces of silver ('the goodly price that I was prized at by them') cast to the potter in the house of Jehovah, which Matthew 27 sees fulfilled in Judas's blood money and the potter's field.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.
Context
Prophecy · Zechariah — Zechariah overview
- A. 1–6 Open your doors, Lebanon — the shepherds howl
- B. 7–11 Two staffs, Beauty and Bands, both broken
- C. 12–14 Weighed out thirty pieces of silver for his wages
- D. 15–17 The worthless shepherd who abandons the flock
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
Zechariah 113 verses
- Zechariah 11:4This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,
- Zechariah 11:7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, especially the afflicted of the flock. Then I took for myself two staffs, calling one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.
- Zechariah 11:14Then I cut in two my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
- Read Zechariah 11 →
Jeremiah 222 verses
- Jeremiah 22:6For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.
- Jeremiah 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
- Read Jeremiah 22 →
Jeremiah 502 verses
- Jeremiah 50:7All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
- Jeremiah 50:44Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
- Read Jeremiah 50 →
Matthew 232 verses
- Matthew 23:34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.
- Matthew 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- Read Matthew 23 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
John 102 verses
- John 10:1“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
- John 10:12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
- Read John 10 →
Jeremiah 232 verses
- Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
- Read Jeremiah 23 →
Ezekiel 131 verse
- Ezekiel 13:3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
- Read Ezekiel 13 →
Luke 211 verse
- Luke 21:23How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- Read Luke 21 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.