Zechariah 13

God’s People Cleansed

¹“On that day a fountain ^a will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity. ^{b 2}On that day” #— #this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies #— #“I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. ^c I will banish the prophets ^d and the unclean spirit from the land. ³If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You cannot remain alive because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord.’ When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through. ^{e 4}On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak ^f in order to deceive. ⁵He will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased ^g me as a servant since my youth.’ ^{h 6}If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds ⁱ on your chest?’ ^j #— #then he will answer, ‘I received the wounds in the house of my friends.’

⁷Sword, awake against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate —

this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; ^k

I will turn my hand against the little ones.

⁸In the whole land —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

two-thirds ^l will be cut off and die,

but a third will be left in it.

⁹I will put this third through the fire;

I will refine them as silver is refined

and test them as gold is tested. ^m

They will call on my name,

and I will answer them. ⁿ

I will say, ‘They are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ” ^o