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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.”

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, 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.’

“No one will be boasting then of his prophetic gift! No one will wear prophet’s clothes to try to fool the people then.

“‘No,’ he will say. ‘I am not a prophet; I am a farmer. The soil has been my livelihood from my earliest youth.’

“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!’

“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. Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[b] but a third will be left in the land. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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?

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.

“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. 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)

“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) Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[a](L) 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

“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.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.(P)
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

  1. Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
  2. Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands