God’s People Cleansed

13 “On that day a fountain(A) will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity.(B) On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered.(C) I will banish the prophets[a] and the unclean spirit from the land. If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You cannot remain alive because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord.’ When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.(D) On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak(E) in order to deceive. He will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased[b] me as a servant since my youth.’(F) If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds(G) on your chest?’[c]—then he will answer, ‘I received the wounds in the house of my friends.’

Sword, awake against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;(H)
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
two-thirds[d] will be cut off and die,
but a third will be left in it.
I will put this third through the fire;
I will refine them as silver is refined
and test them as gold is tested.(I)
They will call on my name,
and I will answer them.(J)
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”(K)

Footnotes

  1. 13:2 = false prophets
  2. 13:5 Or sold
  3. 13:6 Lit wounds between your hands
  4. 13:8 Lit two-thirds in it

13 “‘On that day a well will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and from impurity.[a] And then,[b] on that day,’ declares[c] Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land. And then,[d] if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!” And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies. And then[e] on that day, each of the prophets will be ashamed because of his vision when he was prophesying, and they will not put on a cloak of hair in order to deceive, but he will say, “I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth.”[f] And someone[g] shall say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?”[h] and he will say, “Those I have received[i] in the house of the ones who love me.”’”

The Sword Shall Strike the Shepherd

“O sword, awake against my shepherd,
    against the man who is my associate,”
        declares[j] Yahweh of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd,
    so that the sheep[k] may be scattered,
    and I will turn my hand against the small ones.
And then[l] in all the land,” declares[m] Yahweh,
    two thirds[n] will be cut off and perish,
    and one third will be left alive[o] in it.
And I will bring the remaining third into the fire,
    and I will refine them like one refines silver,
    and I will test them like one tests gold.
They[p] will call my name,
    and I will answer them.[q]
I will say, ‘They[r] are my people,’
    and they[s] will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:1 Literally “for sin and for impurity”
  2. Zechariah 13:2 Literally “And it will happen”
  3. Zechariah 13:2 Literally “declaration of”
  4. Zechariah 13:3 Literally “And it will happen”
  5. Zechariah 13:4 Literally “And it will happen”
  6. Zechariah 13:5 Other translations read “for the land has been my possession since my youth”
  7. Zechariah 13:6 Hebrew “he”
  8. Zechariah 13:6 Literally “between your hands”; that is, on the chest or on the back
  9. Zechariah 13:6 Hebrew “have been struck”
  10. Zechariah 13:7 Literally “declaration of”
  11. Zechariah 13:7 Or “flock”; the Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  12. Zechariah 13:8 Literally “And it will happen”
  13. Zechariah 13:8 Literally “declaration of”
  14. Zechariah 13:8 Literally “a mouth of two”
  15. Zechariah 13:8 Hebrew “left over”
  16. Zechariah 13:9 Hebrew “He”
  17. Zechariah 13:9 Hebrew “him”
  18. Zechariah 13:9 Hebrew “He”
  19. Zechariah 13:9 Hebrew “he”