Old Testament
Zechariah 13
Overview
Flowing straight out of the mourning of chapter 12, God promises that "on that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David... to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." He will purge the land of idols and false prophets so thoroughly that prophesying becomes shameful and a former prophet hides his telltale scars, claiming they came from a friend's house. Then the chapter turns to the most piercing line of all: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the LORD of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." Through the striking of the shepherd, God will refine a remnant — bringing a third through the fire, purified like silver and gold, until they call on His name and He says, "They are my people."
1“In that day there will be a fountain opened to David’s house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
3It will happen that when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in Yahweh’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
4It will happen in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they won’t wear a hairy mantle to deceive,
5but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.’
6One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
9I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”