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Zechariah 13
Contemporary English Version
Zechariah 13
Contemporary English Version
Getting Rid of Idols and False Prophets
13 In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.
2 The Lord All-Powerful says:
When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them. 3 If any such prophets ever appear again, their own parents must warn them that they will die for telling lies in my name—the name of the Lord. If those prophets don't stop speaking, their parents must then kill them with a sword.
4 Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions, and they won't deceive anyone by dressing like a true prophet. 5 Instead, they will say, “I'm no prophet. I've been a farmer all my life.”[a]
6 And if any of them are asked why they are wounded,[b] they will answer, “It happened at the house of some friends.”
A Wounded Shepherd and Scattered Sheep
7 (A) The Lord All-Powerful said:
My sword, wake up! Attack
my shepherd and friend.
Strike down the shepherd!
Scatter the little sheep,
and I will destroy them.
8 Nowhere in the land
will more than a third of them
be left alive.
9 Then I will purify them
and put them to the test,
just as gold and silver
are purified and tested.
They will pray in my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, “You are my people,”
and they will reply,
“You, Lord, are our God!”
Zechariah 13
New International Version
Zechariah 13
New International Version
Cleansing From Sin
13 “On that day a fountain(A) will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse(B) them from sin and impurity.
2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols(C) from the land, and they will be remembered no more,”(D) declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets(E) and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies(F) in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.(G)
4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed(H) of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment(I) of hair(J) in order to deceive.(K) 5 Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[a]’(L) 6 If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body[b]?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’
The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered
7 “Awake, sword,(M) against my shepherd,(N)
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,(O)
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.(P)
9 This third I will put into the fire;(Q)
I will refine them like silver(R)
and test them like gold.(S)
They will call(T) on my name(U)
and I will answer(V) them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’(W)
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.(X)’”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
- Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.