Zechariah 13

English ERV 2006 - Only For Website

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1But at that time a new spring of water will be opened for David's family and for the other people living in Jerusalem. That fountain will be to wash away their sins and to make the people pure.

2The Lord All-Powerful says, "At that time I will remove all the idols from the earth. People will not even remember their names, and I will remove the false prophets and unclean spirits from the earth.

3Whoever continues to prophesy will be punished. Even their parents, their own mother and father, will say to them, 'You have spoken lies in the name of the Lord, so you must die!' Their own mother and father will stab them for prophesying.

4At that time the prophets will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies. They will not wear the rough cloth that shows a person is a prophet. They will not wear those clothes to trick people with the lies they call prophecies.

5They will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer. I have worked as a farmer since I was a little child.'

6But other people will say, 'Then what are these wounds in your hands?' He will say, 'I was beaten in the house of my friends.'"

7The Lord All-Powerful says, "Sword, hit the shepherd! Hit my friend! Hit the shepherd, and the sheep will run away. And I will punish those little ones.

8Two-thirds of the people in the land will be hurt and die, but one-third will survive.

9Then I will test those survivors by giving them many troubles. The troubles will be like the fire a person uses to prove silver is pure. I will test them the way a person tests gold. Then they will call to me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, 'You are my people.' And they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

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