4 Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed for ^aslaughter, 5 whose buyers slay them and go ^aunpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for ^bI have become rich!’ And their ^cown shepherds have no pity on them nor protect them from the wolves. 6 For I will ^ano longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will ^bcause the men to fall, each into the hand of another and into the hands of his foreign king. And the enemy will strike the land, and I will ^cnot rescue the people from their hand.”

7 So I Zechariah ^apastured the flock doomed for slaughter, truly as the name implies the most ^bmiserable of sheep. And I took two shepherd’s ^cstaffs, the one I called ^dFavor (Grace) and the other I called ^eUnion (Bonds) ; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I eliminated the three incompetent, unfit shepherds the civil rulers, the priests, and the prophets in ^aone month, for I was impatient with them, and they also were tired of me and despised me. Jer 2:8, 26; 18:18 9 So I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to ^adie, let it die, and what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let the survivors devour one another’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff, ^aFavor, and broke it in pieces, ^bbreaking the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So the covenant was broken on that day, and thus the most ^awretched of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD. 12 I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my ^awages; but if not, do not.” So they weighed out ^1bthirty pieces of silver as my wages. 13 ¹Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the ^apotter as if to the dogs—that magnificent sum at which I am valued by them!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. Matt 26:14, 15; 27:3-10 14 Then I broke my second staff, ^aUnion, into pieces to ^bbreak the brotherhood between Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Israel (the Northern Kingdom) .

15 The LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a shepherd, but this time of a ^afoolish shepherd. Ezek 34:2-6 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a false shepherd in the land who will ^anot care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or feed the healthy; but will ^beat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs to consume everything.

4 Thus says Yahweh my God, “Shepherd the flock doomed to ^aslaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and are not ^aheld guilty, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be Yahweh. Indeed, ^bI have become rich!’ And their ^cown shepherds do not spare them. 6 For I will ^ano longer spare the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh; “but behold, I will ^bcause the men to ¹fall, each into another’s hand and into the hand of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will ^cnot deliver them from their hand.”

7 So I ^ashepherded the flock doomed to slaughter—¹hence the ^bafflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two ^cstaffs: the one I called ^2dFavor, and the other I called ^3eUnion; so I shepherded the flock. 8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in ^aone month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also ¹was weary of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to ^adie, ¹let it die, and what is to be annihilated, ²let it be annihilated; and ³let those who remain consume one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff ^1aFavor and cut it in pieces, to ^2bbreak my covenant which I had cut with all the peoples. 11 So it was ¹broken on that day, and ²thus the ^aafflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my ^awages; but if not, ¹never mind!” So they weighed out ^bthirty ²shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the ^apotter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff ^1aUnion, to ^bbreak the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Then Yahweh said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a ^1afoolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will ^anot care for those who face annihilation, seek the young, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will ^bconsume the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.