Zechariah 13 - Modern English Version (MEV)

The Cleansing of God’s People

13 On that day there will be a spring opened up for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and impurity.

2 And on that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will not be remembered any more. And I will also remove from the land the prophets and the unclean spirit. 3 And it will be if a man again prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say, “You will not live because you speak deception in the name of the Lord.” Then when he prophesies, his father and mother will pierce him through.

4 On that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a robe of coarse hair in order to deceive. 5 But he will say, “I am not a prophet. I am a man who works the ground, for a man purchased me when I was young.” 6 If someone asks, “What are these wounds on your arms?” he will say, “I was struck in the house of my close friends.”

Striking the Shepherd, Scattering the Sheep

7 “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd
and the man of My association,”
says the Lord of Hosts.
Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter.
I will turn My hand against the small ones.
8 And it will happen in all the land, says the Lord,
that two-thirds will be cut off and die,
and one-third will be left in the land.
9 And I will bring this one-third left into the fire,
and will refine them as the refinement of silver,
and will test them as the testing of gold.
They will call on My name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, “They are My people”;
and they will say, “The Lord is my God.”