Zechariah 13

Zechariah 12 Zechariah 14

Zechariah 13 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Chapter 13

Oracles Concerning the End of False Prophecy.^[a] ¹On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David^[b] and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to purify from sin and uncleanness.

²On that day—oracle of the Lord of hosts—I will destroy the names of the idols from the land, so that they will be mentioned no more; I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness from the land. ³If any still prophesy, their father and mother who bore them will say, “You will not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord.” Their father and mother who bore them will thrust them through when they prophesy.

⁴On that day, all prophets will be ashamed of the visions they prophesy; and they will not put on the hairy mantle^[c] to mislead, ⁵but each will say, “I am not a prophet. I am a tiller of the soil, for I have owned land since my youth.” ⁶And if anyone asks, “What are these wounds on your chest?”^[d] each will answer, “I received these wounds in the house of my friends.”

The Song of the Sword

⁷Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
    against the one who is my associate
    —oracle of the Lord of hosts.
Strike the shepherd
    that the sheep may be scattered;^[e]
    I will turn my hand against the little ones.
⁸In all the land—oracle of the Lord—
    two thirds of them will be cut off and perish,
    and one third will be left.
⁹I will bring the one third through the fire;
    I will refine them as one refines silver,
    and I will test them as one tests gold.
They will call upon my name, and I will answer them;
    I will say, “They are my people,”
    and they will say, “The Lord is my God.”

Footnotes:

13:1–6 False prophecy is a major theme of Second Zechariah (chaps. 9–14) and figures in many other passages (10:1–2; 11; 12:10). Problems of idolatry and false prophecy occurred in postexilic Judah as they had in preexilic times. The understanding of the role of the prophet as an intermediary was challenged because (1) there was no king in Jerusalem, and (2) the texts of earlier prophets were beginning to be accorded the authority of prophetic tradition.
13:1 For the house of David: anticipation that a cleansed leadership will enable the re-established monarchy to be rid of the misdeeds of its past.
13:4 Hairy mantle: worn by prophets as a sign of their calling, for example, Elijah (1 Kgs 19:13; 2 Kgs 1:8) and John the Baptist (Mt 3:4).
13:6 Wounds on your chest: lit., “wounds between your hands.” The false prophets, like the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:28), apparently inflicted wounds on themselves. Here it seems that persons accused of false prophecy deny having inflicted wounds on themselves and instead claim that they have received them at the houses of their friends.
13:7 Strike the shepherd…may be scattered: in Matthew’s Gospel (26:31) Jesus makes use of this text before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and the flight of the disciples.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Zechariah 13 King James Version (KJV)

13 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

²And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

³And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

⁴And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

⁵But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

⁶And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

⁷Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

⁸And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

⁹And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

King James Version (KJV)

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