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“Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, the man who is my associate and equal,” says the Lord Almighty. “Strike down the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter, but I will come back and comfort and care for the lambs. Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[a] but a third will be left in the land. I will bring the third that remain through the fire and make them pure, as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call upon my name and I will hear them; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:8 Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die. Something of this sort has already happened twice: 2 million Jews perished in the Roman wars, and 6 million under Hitler. Is a yet future disaster predicted here?

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

“Awake, sword,(A) against my shepherd,(B)
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,(C)
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.(D)
This third I will put into the fire;(E)
    I will refine them like silver(F)
    and test them like gold.(G)
They will call(H) on my name(I)
    and I will answer(J) them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’(K)
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.(L)’”

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