The Prophet Zechariah

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- Chapter 13 -

In that day, there will be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the washing of the transgressor and of the defiled woman.(a)

And this shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts: I will disperse the names of the idols from the earth, and they will not be remembered any longer. And I will take away the false prophets and the unclean spirit from the earth.

And this shall be: when any devotee will continue to prophesy, his father and his mother, who conceived him, will say to him, “You shall not live, because you have been speaking a lie in the name of the Lord.” And his father and his mother, his own parents, will pierce him, when he will prophesy.(b)

And this shall be: In that day, the prophets will be confounded, each one by his own vision, when he will prophesy. Neither will they be covered with a garment of sackcloth in order to deceive.

But he will say, “I am not a prophet; I am a man of agriculture. For Adam has been my example from my youth.”

And they will say to him, “What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?” And he will say, “I was wounded with these in the house of those who love me.”(c)

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

(Matthew 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31)

Awake, O spear, against my shepherd and against the man that clings to me, says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. And I will turn my hand to the little ones.(d)

And there will be in all the earth, says the Lord, two parts in it will be scattered and will pass away, and the third part will be left behind.(e)

And I will lead the third part through fire, and I will burn them just as silver is burned, and I will test them just as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will heed them. I will say, “You are my people.” And they will say, “The Lord is my God.”(f)

Footnotes

(a)13:1 The word ‘peccatoris’ is masculine and the word ‘menstruatæ’ is feminine. The passage refers to men and women who have transgressed against God’s law and have become unclean or defiled. The implication of the passage is that men and women who have committed sexual sins can obtain absolution, a washing of the soul. The male transgresses by his sexual sins and the female become defiled by her sexual sins.(Conte)

(b)13:3 The word ‘quispiam’ refers to anyone who is pious or devoted to something. Since the connotation is clearly negative, the English word ‘pious’ would not be fitting. A devotee can be devoted to something true or to something false, so that word is a better fit.(Conte)

(c)13:6 Even though his parents said, ‘You shall not live,’ they did not kill him, but they pierced his hands like the wounds of Christ. And he accepted the correction. There are many false prophets in the world today. Some of these will be corrected by the events at the start of the tribulation and will accept the correction.(Conte)

(d)13:7 This may refer to an event during the first part of the tribulation, an attack on Vatican City and Rome.(Conte)

(e)13:8 Two thirds of the world population will perish (in the first part of the tribulation), and only one third will remain.(Conte)

(f)13:9 Or, ‘I will refine them just as silver is refined.’(Conte)

“In that day there will be a fountain opened to David’s house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

It will come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.

It will happen that when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in the LORD’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.

It will happen in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they won’t wear a hairy mantle to deceive,

but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.’

One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

(Matthew 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31)

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says the LORD of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

It shall happen that in all the land,” says the LORD, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.

I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”