Zechariah 11:9

Complete Jewish Bible

I said, ‘I'm not going to shepherd you. Whichever one is going to die, let it die; whichever is going to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and the rest can all devour each other.'"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let what is dying die, and let what is perishing perish; let the rest devour each other’s flesh.”

Hebrew Names Version
Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other's flesh."

King James Version (1611)
Then said I, I will not feede you: that that dieth, let it die: and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off, and let the rest eate, euery one the flesh of another.

King James Version
Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

English Standard Version
So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another."

New American Standard Bible
Then I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to perish, let it perish; and let those who are left eat one another's flesh."

New Century Version
I said, "I will no longer take care of you like a shepherd. Let those that are dying die, and let those that are to be destroyed be destroyed. Let those that are left eat each other."

Amplified Bible
So I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let the survivors devour one another's flesh."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said I, I will not feede you: that that dyeth, let it dye: and that that perisheth, let it perish: and let the remnant eate, euery one the flesh of his neighbour.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another's flesh."

Legacy Standard Bible
Then I said, "I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who remain consume one another's flesh."

Berean Standard Bible
Then I said, "I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; let the rest devour one another's flesh."

Contemporary English Version
Then I said, "I refuse to be your shepherd. Let the sheep that are going to die, go on and die, and those that are going to be destroyed, go on and be destroyed. Then let the others eat one another alive."

Darby Translation
And I said, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which perisheth let it perish; and let them which are left eat every one the flesh of another.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then I said, "I quit! I will not take care of you! I will let those who want to die, die. I will let those who want to be destroyed, be destroyed, and those who are left will destroy each other."

George Lamsa Translation
Then I said, I will not feed you; that which dies, let it die; and that which is to be lost, let it be lost; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

Good News Translation
Then I said to the flock, "I will not be your shepherd any longer. Let those die who are to die. Let those be destroyed who are to be destroyed. Those who are left will destroy one another."

Lexham English Bible
So I said, "I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour the flesh of each other."

Literal Translation
Then I said, I will not feed you; that which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off. And let the ones remaining, each woman, eat the flesh of her neighbor.

American Standard Version
Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.

Bible in Basic English
And I said, I will not take care of you: If death comes to any, let death be its fate; if any is cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest take one another's flesh for food.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said I: 'I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.'

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then saide I, I wyll feede you no more: the thing that dyeth, let it dye: and that that wyll perishe, let it perishe: and let the remnaunt eate euery one the fleshe of his neighbour.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I said, I will not tend you: that which dies, let it die; and that which falls off, let it fall off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of his neighbour.

English Revised Version
Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them which are left eat every one the flesh of another.

World English Bible
Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other's flesh."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y seide, Y schal not fede you; that that dieth, die; and that that is kit doun, be kit doun; and the residues deuoure, ech the fleisch of his neiybore.

Update Bible Version
Then I said, I will not feed you: that which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those that are left eat every one the flesh of another.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat, every one the flesh of another.

New English Translation
I then said, "I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other's flesh!"

New King James Version
Then I said, "I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other's flesh."

New Living Translation
So I told them, "I won't be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you are killed, you are killed. And let those who remain devour each other!"

New Life Bible
Then I said, "I will not take care of you. Let those die who are to die. And what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left eat each other's flesh."

New Revised Standard
So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another!"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said I - l will not tend you, - the dying, may die, and, the disappearing, may disappear, and, the remainder, may devour one another.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour.

Revised Standard Version
So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another."

Young's Literal Translation
And I say, `I do not feed you, the dying, let die; and the cut off, let be cut off; and the remaining ones, let each eat the flesh of its neighbour.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde I: I will fede you nomore, the thinge that dyeth, let it dye: and that wil perishe, let it perish, & let the renaunt eate, euery one the flesh of his neghboure.

THE MESSAGE
And then I got tired of the sheep and said, "I've had it with you—no more shepherding from me. If you die, you die; if you're attacked, you're attacked. Whoever survives can eat what's left."

Contextual Overview

⁴ Adonai my God says this: "Shepherd the flock for slaughter. ⁵ Their buyers kill them and go unpunished; while those who sell them say, ‘Barukh Adonai ! Now I'm rich!' Even their own shepherds show them no pity. ⁶ I will no longer show pity to the inhabitants of the land," says Adonai . "No, I will hand every one of them over to the power of a neighbor and to the power of his king; they will crush the land; and I won't rescue them from their power." ⁷ So I shepherded the flock for slaughter, truly the most miserable of the sheep; and I took two staffs for myself. I called the one No‘am [pleasantness], the other I called Hovalim [bound together], and I shepherded the flock. ⁸ "In a single month I got rid of three shepherds, because I grew impatient with them; and besides, they detested me. ⁹ I said, ‘I'm not going to shepherd you. Whichever one is going to die, let it die; whichever is going to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and the rest can all devour each other.'" ¹⁰ I took my staff No‘am and snapped it in two, "in order to break my covenant, which I made with all the peoples." ¹¹ On that day when it was broken, the most miserable of the sheep who paid attention to me knew that this was indeed a message from Adonai . ¹² I said to them, "If it seems good to you, give me my wages; if not, don't." So they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels, that is, twelve ounces]. ¹³ Concerning that "princely sum" at which they valued me, Adonai said, "Throw it into the treasury!" So I took the thirty silver [shekels] and threw them into the treasury in the house of Adonai .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will: Jeremiah 23:33, Jeremiah 23:39, Matthew 13:10, Matthew 13:11, Matthew 21:43, Matthew 23:38, Matthew 23:39, John 8:21, John 8:24, John 12:35, Acts 13:46, Acts 13:47, Acts 28:26-28

that that dieth: Psalms 69:22-28, Jeremiah 15:2, Jeremiah 15:3, Jeremiah 43:11, Matthew 15:14, Matthew 21:19, Revelation 22:11

and let: Deuteronomy 28:53-56, Isaiah 9:19-21, Jeremiah 19:9, Ezekiel 5:10

another: Heb. his fellow, or, neighbour

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 6:8 - lest Jeremiah 7:29 - for Jeremiah 14:19 - hath Hosea 4:6 - I will also reject Zechariah 11:6 - deliver Zechariah 11:14 - I cut Matthew 24:21 - General Mark 8:13 - General Revelation 3:16 - I will spue thee out

Cross-References

Genesis 10:5
From these the islands of the nations were divided into their lands, each according to its language, according to their families, in their nations.

Genesis 10:10
His kingdom began with Bavel, Erekh, Akkad and Kalneh, in the land of Shin‘ar.

Genesis 10:20
These were the descendants of Ham, according to their families and languages, in their lands and in their nations.

Genesis 10:25
To ‘Ever were born two sons. One was given the name Peleg [division], because during his lifetime the earth was divided. His brother's name was Yoktan.

Genesis 11:1
(S: vii) The whole earth used the same language, the same words.

Genesis 11:14
Shelach lived thirty years and fathered ‘Ever.

Genesis 11:31
Terach took his son Avram, his son Haran's son Lot, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Avram's wife; and they left Ur of the Kasdim to go to the land of Kena‘an. But when they came to Haran, they stayed there.

Genesis 11:32
Terach lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. Haftarah Noach: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 54:1–55:5 (A); 54:1–10 (S) [Messianic adaptation: commence the reading at 52:13] B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Noach: Mattityahu (Matthew) 24:36–44; Luke 17:26–37; Acts 2:1–16; 1 Kefa (1 Peter) 3:18–22; 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:5

Acts 17:26
"From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish.

1 Corinthians 14:23
So if the whole congregation comes together with everybody speaking in tongues, and uninstructed people or unbelievers come in, won't they say you're crazy?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said I, I will not feed you,.... That is, any longer; either personally, or by his apostles; he fed them himself, during his public ministry; and afterwards by his apostles, whom he ordered to preach the Gospel to the Jews first; but that being contradicted, blasphemed, and despised by them, they were ordered to turn away from them, and go to the Gentiles: this shows that not the shepherds only, but the body of the people, abhorred Christ and his Gospel: and therefore it was taken away from them:

that that dieth, let it die; literally, by the pestilence, that going by the name of death in Scripture; and spiritually, they that are dead in sin, let them continue so; let them die through famine of the word they have despised; let them die in their sins, and die the second death, they justly deserve:

and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; literally, by the sword; spiritually, the meaning is, that whereas some were in righteous judgment appointed to ruin, vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; let them be left to themselves, to a judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, and be cut off as unfruitful branches, and be no more in a church state here, and hereafter cast into everlasting burnings:

and let the rest eat everyone the flesh of another; through famine; or destroy each other in their internal divisions, which was the case of the Jews, when Jerusalem was besieged; see Galatians 5:15.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And I said, I will not feed you - God, at last, leaves the rebellious soul or people to itself, as He says by Moses, “Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and will hide My Face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall find them” Deuteronomy 31:17 : and our Lord tells the captious Jews; “I go My way, and ye shall seek Me and shall die in your sins” John 8:21.

That which dieth, let it die - Zechariah seems to condense, but to repeat the abandonment in Jeremiah; “Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. And it shall be, if they shall say unto thee, Where shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith 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 captivity, to the captivity” ^o. First, God gives over to death without violence, by famine or pestilence, those whose lot it should be; another portion to violent death by the sword; “that which is cut off shall be cut off; and the rest,” the flock of slaughter, would be turned into wolves; and, as in the awful and horrible siege of Jerusalem, those who had escaped these deaths, “the left-over, shall eat every one of the flesh of his neighbor,” every law of humanity and of nature broken. Osorius: “So should they understand at last, how evil and bitter a thing it is for all who lived by My help to be despoiled of that help?”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 11:9. I will not feed you — I shall instruct you no longer: some of you are appointed to death by famine; others, to be cut off by the sword; and others of you, to such desparation that ye shall destroy one another.