A Fountain Opened for Cleansing
A fountain is opened to wash away sin, idols and false prophets are cleared out, and the shepherd is struck so the sheep scatter. A third is brought through the fire and refined, until he says they are my children and they say, Our Father.
13 1On that day a fountain will open for the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
2On that day, declares the Father of heaven's armies, I will cut off the idols' names from the land, remembered no more; and I will remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.
3If anyone still prophesies, the father and mother who bore him will tell him, "You must die, for you have spoken lies in our Father's name." And when he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will stab him.
4On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; nor will they wear a hairy cloak to deceive.
5But he will say, "I am no prophet; I am a farmer, for the land has been my possession since my youth." 6If someone asks him, "What are these wounds between your hands?" he will say, "I was wounded in the house of my friends." a a v6 The phrase "between your hands" is an ancient idiom for wounds visible on the front of the body.
The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered
7Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands close to me, declares the Father of heaven's armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones. b b v7 Jesus applied this verse to himself the night he was arrested: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered" (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27). 8And in all the land, declares our Father, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but one-third will be left alive in it. 9That final third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver, test them like gold. They will call on my name; I will answer them. Then I will say, "They are my children," and they will say, "Our Father."
