This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter,
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.
- KJV Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
- NKJV Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter,
- NASB This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.
- NLT This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter.
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 commissions the prophet to shepherd a 'flock of slaughter'—a people destined for judgment. It matters because it dramatizes God's compassion toward a people headed for ruin.
Overview
Zechariah is told to act out the role of a shepherd over a flock marked for slaughter, an enacted prophecy. The flock represents God's covenant people, exploited by their leaders and ripe for judgment. As the prophet takes up this thankless task, he prefigures the LORD Himself coming as Shepherd to a people who will reject Him—pointing forward to Christ's ministry to Israel (Matt. 9:36).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Zech 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.
- Matt 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!
- Rom 15:8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,
- Zech 14:5You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
- John 20:17“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
- Ezek 34:23–24I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.
- Mic 5:4He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.
- Matt 15:24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- Isa 49:4–5But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”
- Luke 19:41–44As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Isa 40:9–11Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
- Eph 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
- John 21:15–17When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
Resources, by level
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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 11:4 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.