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“And if someone asks, ‘Then what are these scars on your chest and your back?’[a] he will say, ‘I got into a brawl at the home of a friend!’

“Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, the man who is my associate and equal,” says the Lord Almighty. “Strike down the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter, but I will come back and comfort and care for the lambs. Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[b] but a third will be left in the land.

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:6 these scars on your chest and your back. Evidently self-inflicted cuts, as practiced by false prophets; see 1 Kings 18:28. I got into a brawl at the home of a friend, literally, “[These are] wounds I received in the house of my friends.” Some think this refers to Christ; others believe this refers to a false prophet who is lying about the reasons for his scars.
  2. Zechariah 13:8 Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die. Something of this sort has already happened twice: 2 million Jews perished in the Roman wars, and 6 million under Hitler. Is a yet future disaster predicted here?

If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body[a]?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

“Awake, sword,(A) against my shepherd,(B)
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,(C)
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands