Zechariah 13

1 At that time [it will be as though] [MET] there will be a fountain from which water flows continually to cleanse the descendants [MTY] of [King] David and [all] the [other] people in Jerusalem from the guilt of the sins that they have committed, [especially] from becoming unacceptable to me [by worshiping idols].

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

2 The Commander of the armies of angels says, “At that time, I will prevent [people from even mentioning] the names of the idols in their country, and no one will remember them any more. I will also expel from the land all the people who falsely claim that they are prophets [DOU].

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.

3 If someone continues to prophesy [falsely], his parents must say to him, ‘You have told lies saying that Yahweh [MTY] gave those messages to you, so you must be executed.’ [So] if someone prophesies [like that], his own father and mother must stab him [and kill him].

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.

4 At that time, the false prophets will be ashamed [that they claimed to have received messages from me in] their visions and prophesies [that they told to people]. They will no [longer] deceive people by wearing the clothes [that prophets usually wear], clothes made of [animals’] hair.

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.

5 [So] each of them will say, ‘I am not [really] a prophet; I am a farmer, and I have been a farmer on my land ever since I was a boy!’

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.

6 But someone, [seeing the wounds on one of those prophet’s bodies, will suspect that he injured himself during rituals to worship idols, and he] will ask ‘Why are those wounds on your body?’ And he [will lie, saying] ‘I was injured [when I was] at my friend’s house.’”

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.

7 The Commander of the armies of angels says, “[My] sword [APO] must strike [the one who is like] [MET] my shepherd, the man who is (my companion/very (close/dear) to me). When the shepherd is killed, [those who are like] [MET] his sheep will scatter. [And those who are like] [MET] my little sheep will [also] be attacked [IDM].”

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.

8 Yahweh [also] says, “Two-thirds [of the people in Judah] will die [DOU]. [Only] one-third [of the people in Judah] will remain alive.

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.

9 And I will test the ones that remain alive [by causing them to experience great difficulties, to find out if they will continue to worship me]. I will purify them like [MET] a man purifies gold or silver by putting it into a [very hot] fire. [Then] my people will call to me [MTY] [for help], and I will answer them. I will say [to them], ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is our God.’”

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.