Zechariah 13
Living Bible
13 “At that time a Fountain will be opened to the people of Israel and Jerusalem, a Fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and defilement.”
2 And the Lord Almighty declares, “In that day I will get rid of every vestige of idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. All false prophets and fortune-tellers will be wiped out, 3 and if anyone begins false prophecy again, his own father and mother will slay him! ‘You must die,’ they will tell him, ‘for you are prophesying lies in the name of the Lord.’
4 “No one will be boasting then of his prophetic gift! No one will wear prophet’s clothes to try to fool the people then.
5 “‘No,’ he will say. ‘I am not a prophet; I am a farmer. The soil has been my livelihood from my earliest youth.’
6 “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!’
7 “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. 8 Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[b] but a third will be left in the land. 9 I will bring the third that remain through the fire and make them pure, as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call upon my name and I will hear them; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
Footnotes
- 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.
- 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?
Zechariah 13
Expanded Bible
13 “·At that time [L In that day] a fountain will be open for ·David’s descendants [L the house of David] and for the ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem to cleanse them of their sin and ·uncleanness [impurity; defilement].”
2 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says, “·At that time [L On that day] I will ·get rid of [remove; cut off] the names of the idols from the land; no one will remember them anymore. I will also remove the prophets and ·unclean spirits [or spirit of uncleanness/impurity] from the land [C unlike true prophecy from the Spirit of God]. 3 If a person continues to prophesy, his own father and mother, the ones who gave birth to him, will tell him, ‘You have told lies ·using [in] the Lord’s name, so you must die.’ When he prophesies, his own father and mother who gave birth to him will ·stab [pierce] him.
4 “·At that time [L On that day] the prophets will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies. They won’t wear the prophet’s clothes made of hair [C like Elijah (1 Kin. 19:13) and Elisha (1 Kin. 19:19); cf. John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4)] to ·trick [deceive] people. 5 Each of them will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer ·and have been a farmer since I was young [L for a man sold me in my youth; C as an indentured servant to work the land].’ 6 But someone will ask, ‘What are the ·deep cuts [wounds] ·on your body [or on your chest; L between your hands; C pagan prophets often cut themselves to appeal to their gods]?’ And each will answer, ‘I was ·hurt [wounded] at my friend’s house.’
The Shepherd Is Killed
7 “·Sword, hit the [L Awake, Sword, against my] shepherd.
·Attack [L …against] the man who is my ·friend [associate],”
says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
“·Kill [Strike] the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter [Matt. 26:31; Mark 14:27],
and I will ·punish [L turn my hand against] the little ones.”
8 The Lord says, “Two-thirds of the people
through all the land will die. They will be ·gone [struck down; L cut off],
and one-third will be left.
9 The third that is left I will ·test with [L bring into the] fire,
·purifying [refining] them like silver,
testing them like gold.
Then they will call on ·me [my name],
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.