Zacharias 13

1 In that day every place shall be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for removal and for separation.

On that day a spring will be opened and continually flow for the house of David and for the people of Jerusalem to wash away their sin and impurity.

2 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, [that] I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from off the land, and there shall be no longer [any] remembrance of them: and I will cut off the false prophets and the evil spirit from the land.

On that day, declares the Lord Almighty, I will wipe out idol worship from the land—the idols will not be remembered any longer. I will remove the false prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

3 And it shall come to pass, if a man will yet prophesy, that his father and his mother which gave birth to him shall say to him, You shall not live; for you has spoken lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother who gave him birth shall bind him as he is prophesying.

If anyone continues to prophesy, his father and mother to whom he was born will tell him, “You shall not live, because you have told lies in the Lord's name.” Then his parents shall kill him because he has prophesied.

4 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he prophesies; and they shall clothe themselves with a garment of hair, because they have lied.

On that day such prophets will be too humiliated to prophesy their supposed visions. In order to deceive they will not put on their prophet's clothes made of coarse hair.

5 And [one] shall say, I am not a prophet, for I am a tiller of the ground, for a man brought me up [thus] from my youth.

They will say, “I'm not a prophet, I'm a farmer. I've worked on the land since I was a child.”

6 And I will say to him, What are these wounds between your hands? and he shall say, [Those] with which I was wounded in my beloved house.

If somebody asks him, “What are those wounds on your back?” he will answer, “I was wounded in my friend's house.”

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherds, and against the man [who is] my citizen, says the Lord Almighty: strike the shepherds, and draw out the sheep: and I will bring mine hand upon the little ones.

Wake up, my sword! Attack my shepherd, the man who stands beside me! declares the Lord. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, and I will raise my hand against the lambs.

8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, says the Lord, two parts thereof shall be cut off and perish; but the third shall be left therein.

Two thirds of the people of the land will be cut down, only one third will remain, says the Lord.

9 And I will bring the third [part] through the fire, and I will try them as silver is tried, and I will prove them as gold is proved: they shall call upon my name, and I will hear them, and say, This is my people: and they shall say, The Lord [is] my God.

I will place this one third in the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, “These are my people,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God.”