Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 429
12:9–13:8
Z echariah
417
people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King
David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the
Lord who goes before them! For on that day I will begin to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem.
“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David
and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have
pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly
for him as for a firstborn son who has died. The sorrow and mourning in
Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon
in the valley of Megiddo.
“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate
from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone, as will the clan of
Nathan, the clan of Levi, and the clan of Shimei. Each of the surviving
clans from Judah will mourn separately, and with the husbands separate
from their wives.
“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for
the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and
impurity.
“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol
worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be
forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the
spirit of impurity that came with them. If anyone continues to prophesy,
his own father and mother will tell him, ‘You must die, for you have proph
esied lies in the name of the Lord.’ And as he prophesies, his own father
and mother will stab him.
“On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No
one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet’s clothes. He will say,
‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’ And
if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest?’ he will
say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’
“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
the man who is my partner,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike down the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn against the lambs.
Two-thirds of the people in the land
will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
“But one-third will be left in the land.
