The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Prophecy of Zacharias
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Chapter 13
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1
When that day comes, clansmen of David and citizens of Jerusalem shall have a fountain flowing openly, of guilt to rid them, and of defilement.
2
A time shall come, says the Lord of hosts, when I will efface the memory of the false gods; the very names of them shall be forgotten; banish, too, the false prophets, and the unclean spirit they echo.
3
Dares one of them prophesy again, all men will turn against him, even the parents that begot him; Still at thy lying, and in the Lord’s name? Thou shalt die for it! And with a javelin’s thrust father and mother will take the life they gave.
4
When that day comes, never a prophet but shall rue the false vision he trusted in. Deceitful garb of sackcloth each one shall throw aside;
5
No prophet am I, but a simple peasant, that grew up to follow Adam’s trade!✻
The meaning of the second half of this verse is quite uncertain.
6
Ask they, What wounds be these in thy clasped hands?✻ Thus wounded was I, he shall answer, in the house of my friends.✻
Literally, ‘between thy hands’, a difficult phrase most inadequately interpreted by some moderns as meaning ‘on thy back’. If the sacred author had meant ‘between thy arms’, he would surely have said so, as in IV Kg. 9.24.
Literally, ‘my lovers’; elsewhere in the Old Testament this word always refers to false gods, as the ‘lovers’ with whom Israel committed adultery. If the false prophet is referred to, it is not easy to see what injuries he had sustained, why any question was asked about them, what answer was expected, or what was meant by the answer given.
7
Up, sword, and attack this shepherd of mine, neighbour of mine, says the Lord of hosts.✻
Smite shepherd, and his flock shall scatter; so upon the common folk my vengeance shall fall.
Smite shepherd, and his flock shall scatter; so upon the common folk my vengeance shall fall.
‘Neighbour’; the word is not likely to be what the prophet wrote. Elsewhere it is only a legal term meaning ‘a second party’. The second half of the verse may be a continuation of the first; but if so the direction ‘Smite!’ cannot be addressed to the sword, which would require a feminine, not a masculine formation of the verb.
8
All over this land, the Lord says, two thirds of them are forfeit to destruction, only a third shall be left to dwell there;
9
and this third part, through fire I will lead them; purged they shall be as silver is purged, tried as gold is tried. Theirs on my name to call, their plea mine to grant; My own people, so I greet them, and they answer, The Lord is my own God.
