Zechariah 13
A Fountain of Cleansing
1 "On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.
2 "And on that day," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.
3 If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, `You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the LORD.' And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him.
4 "On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet's clothes.
5 He will say, `I'm no prophet; I'm a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.'
6 And if someone asks, `Then what about those wounds on your chest?
[6] ' he will say, `I was wounded at my friends' house!'
The Scattering of the Sheep
7 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
the man who is my partner,"
says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
"Strike down the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn against the lambs.
8 Two-thirds of the people in the land
will be cut off and die," says the LORD.
"But one-third will be left in the land.
9 I will bring that group through the fire
and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, `These are my people,'
and they will say, `The LORD is our God.'"
