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A Fountain of Cleansing

13 “On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.

“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them. If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, ‘You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the Lord.’ And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him.

“On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet’s clothes. He will say, ‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’ And if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest?[a]’ he will say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’

The Scattering of the Sheep

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
    the man who is my partner,”
    says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike down the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn against the lambs.
Two-thirds of the people in the land
    will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
    “But one-third will be left in the land.
I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Footnotes

  1. 13:6 Hebrew wounds between your hands?

13 On that day, a fountain will open
        to cleanse[a] the sin and impurity of David’s house and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

On that day, says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land;
            they will no longer be remembered.
Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the sinful spirit from the land.
If anyone again prophesies,
        then that person’s birth father and mother will say,
    “You won’t live, for you have told a lie in the name of the Lord.”
    That person’s own birth father and mother will stab him when he prophesies.

On that day each of the prophets will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies
        and won’t put on a shaggy coat in order to deceive.
Each will say, “I’m not a prophet.
        I’m a man who works the ground, for the soil has been my occupation since I was young.”
Someone will say to him,
    “What are these wounds between your hands?”
        And he will say, “These happened when I was hit in my friends’ home.”

Sword, arise against my shepherd,
        against the man responsible for[b] my community, says the Lord of heavenly forces!
Strike the shepherd in order to scatter the flock!
        I will turn my hand against the little ones.
Throughout all the land, says the Lord,
        two-thirds will be cut off and die;
            but one-third will be left in it.
I will put the third part into the fire.
        I will refine them like one refines silver;
            I will test them like one tests gold.
They will call on my name, and I will respond to them.
        I will say, “They are my people.”
            And they will say, “The Lord is our God.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:1 Heb lacks to cleanse.
  2. Zechariah 13:7 Heb lacks responsible for.