Zechariah 11:2
Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
The passage stands within a larger portion of Zechariah whose overall burden foretells the kingdom of Christ, the great day of the Lord, and the punishment of the wicked. Its immediate setting is an indictment of Israel's spiritual leaders, who are called shepherds in the sense of feeders entrusted with God's flock. Their office embraces both leading and feeding, yet their complete unfitness to feed the flock forms the dark background against which Jesus is revealed as the Good Shepherd.
The cry commanded here announces destruction, with fir trees bidden to howl because the cedar has fallen and the mighty have been spoiled, and with the oaks of Bashan bidden to howl because the forest has come down. That falling of cedars and forest and spoiling of the mighty, pictured by the howling trees, is a figurative portrayal of a condition that will exist among the people. The howling at the fall of the mighty identifies false shepherds who profess to serve God while warring against His holy law. They will meet their fate when God's own voice vindicates the law and demonstrates that He neither lies nor changes, so the warning is for them to turn back in time and escape that judgment.