And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
- KJV And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
- NKJV And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd.
- NASB And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
- NLT Then the Lord said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The LORD now tells the prophet to take up the gear of a foolish, worthless shepherd. It matters because it warns that rejecting the true Shepherd leads to being given over to a destructive one.
Overview
After the Good Shepherd is rejected and departs, God commissions a sign-act portraying a 'foolish shepherd'—the opposite of the caring one. This dramatizes the kind of leadership a people receive when they spurn God's true Shepherd. It anticipates the deceptive and self-serving leaders, and ultimately the false 'shepherd'/antichrist figure many see foreshadowed here, that prey on those who reject Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 13:3This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing.
- Lam 2:14The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
- Jer 2:26–27As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
- Isa 6:10–12Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Matt 23:17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?
- Luke 11:40You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?
- Matt 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 11:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.