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Artwork for Thirty Pieces of Silver

Zechariah 11:1-17

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Lyrics · Zechariah

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Zechariah 11:1-17

Lyrics
[Forest Overture] Open your doors, O Lebanon; Fire moves through cedar height. Cypress mourns the fallen timber, Shepherds howl into the night. [Commission] A doomed flock passed between the merchants, Bought and sold without remorse. The buyers blessed themselves as wealthy, While the shepherds changed the course. [Two Staffs] Beauty rested in one hand, Bands of union in the other. Three shepherds fell within one month; Flock and guide grew tired of each other. [Chorus] Thirty pieces of silver, A splendid price for rejected care. Count the coins, then cast them downward, To the potter in the house of prayer. Thirty pieces of silver, Beauty broken, Bands undone. When the faithful shepherd is despised, The foolish shepherd soon will come. [Verse II] The poor of the flock watched closely, Recognized the word within the sign. Beauty broke, the covenant image, Bands were cut from brother line. [Bridge: Potter] The wage was weighed with cold precision, Then thrown where clay and worship meet. Silver rang against the temple pavement, An insult lying at holy feet. [Final Chorus] Thirty pieces of silver, A splendid price for rejected care. Count the coins, then cast them downward, To the potter in the house of prayer. Thirty pieces of silver, The arm will fail, the eye grow dim. Woe to the shepherd who leaves the flock, Who feeds himself and forgets them. [Outro] Two staffs lay broken; The coins kept ringing.

About the passage

Zechariah 11: A shepherd is valued at thirty pieces of silver

Zechariah 11 is an account of failed and rejected shepherding. The chapter opens with great trees falling and shepherds howling, a landscape already signaling that impressive strength will not hold. A flock destined for slaughter is exploited by buyers, sellers, and shepherds who profit without pity, even using the LORD’s name to bless their gain. The appointed shepherd then serves with two named staves, Beauty and Bands, but the relationship collapses. Beauty is broken, thirty pieces of silver are weighed as the shepherd’s price and cast to the potter in the temple, and Bands is broken to mark fractured brotherhood between Judah and Israel. The replacement is worse: a foolish shepherd neglects the vulnerable and consumes the flock. The chapter ends by disabling the arm and eye that should have been used to protect and watch. A title remains, but the office has been emptied of care.

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