Zechariah 13
The Voice
13 A day is coming when a special spring will continually flow to purify the royal house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem from sin and sexual and religious impurities.
2 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promises to remove all idolatry from the land.
Eternal One: On that day, I will certainly blot out the names of the detestable idols and false gods from the land. They will never again be remembered or worshiped in this place. What’s more, I will cut off from the land the disreputable prophets and the impure spirits they work for. 3 If prophets speak again, even their fathers and mothers who brought them into the world will condemn them, saying, “You don’t deserve to live, for you speak lies and do so in the name of the Eternal.” And if they still try to prophesy, their parents will pierce their bodies to silence their lying voices. 4 On that day, the prophets will be clothed with the shame their visions will bring them. They will not be clothed with the hairy mantle, the attire of some of My prophets, to deceive the people into believing they speak for Me. 5 And each of them will have to admit, “I am no prophet, no servant of God. I am a farmer, bound to the land. I work the soil because a man sold me into slavery when I was young.” 6 And if anyone happens to say, “How did you get these ritual wounds on your chest and back?” then the answer will come back—another deception—“Oh, I received these at my friend’s house.”
7 This is a message of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
Eternal One: Sword, begin to stir; be ready to strike My shepherd,
to strike the man at My side.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will scatter.[a]
I’ll turn My hand against the little ones.
8 It will spread across the land:
two of three will be cut down and perish,
And one of three will be left to survive.
9 And I will put this one-third through the fire—
refine them all as silver is refined, test them all as gold is tested.
They will invoke My name,
trust in My promises, and I will answer them.
I will announce, “These are My people”;
and they will confess, “The Eternal is our God.”
Footnotes
Zechariah 13
King James Version
13 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.