God’s People Cleansed
13 “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity.(A) 2 On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will remove the prophets[a] and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 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 falsely in the name of Yahweh. When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.(B) 4 On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak(C) in order to deceive. 5 He will say: I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased[b] me as a servant since my youth.(D) 6 If someone asks him: What are these wounds(E) on your chest?[c]—then he will answer: I received the wounds in the house of my friends.
7 Sword, awake against My shepherd,
against the man who is My associate—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;(F)
I will also turn My hand against the little ones.
8 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.
9 I will put this third through the fire;
I will refine them as silver is refined
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say: They are My people,
and they will say: Yahweh is our God.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 13:2 = false prophets
- Zechariah 13:5 Or sold
- Zechariah 13:6 Lit wounds between your hands
- Zechariah 13:8 Lit two-thirds in it