בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה מָקוֹר נִפְתָּח לְבֵית דָּוִיד וּלְיֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִָם לְחַטַּאת וּלְנִדָּה

On that day, the day of the redemption, there will be a fountain of water opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as a spring will burst open from the city, which will serve for purification and for sprinkling. As detailed in the Torah, those who are ritually impure through contact with a corpse are rendered pure by being sprinkled with water of purification which contains the ashes of a red heifer.

וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת אַכְרִית אֶת־שְׁמוֹת הָעֲצַבִּים מִן־הָאָרֶץ וְלֹא יִזָּכְרוּ עוֹד וְגַם אֶת־הַנְּבִיאִים וְאֶת־רוּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה אַעֲבִיר מִן־הָאָרֶץ

It shall be on that day – the utterance of the Lord of hosts – that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will not be remembered any longer. At that time, idolatry was widespread in the world, to the extent that even those who did not worship idols were at least familiar with their names. Zechariah prophesies that in the future people will stop believing in such false gods, and their names will lose all meaning, vanish from the world, and be forgotten. And I also will remove the false prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. Some explain that prophecy in general, even that of true prophets, will lose its significance to the public.

וְהָיָה כִּי־יִנָּבֵא אִישׁ עוֹד וְאָמְרוּ אֵלָיו אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ יֹלְדָיו לֹא תִחְיֶה כִּי שֶׁקֶר דִּבַּרְתָּ בְּשֵׁם ה'וּדְקָרֻהוּ אָבִיהוּ וְאִמּוֹ יֹלְדָיו בְּהִנָּבְאוֹ

In the First Temple period, false prophets were active alongside true prophets, and although not everyone accepted the statements of the prophets, all respected prophecy as an institution. This was about to change: It shall be that when one will thereafter prophesy, when someone is suddenly caught up in spiritual ecstasy and starts to prophesy, his father and his mother who bore him, the people closest to him, will say to him: You shall not live, because you spoke falsehood in the name of the Lord. Since prophecy will cease, one who prophesies will be considered a charlatan, even a dangerous person. And his father and his mother who bore him will stab him for his prophesying, for his claiming to be a prophet.

וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יֵבֹשׁוּ הַנְּבִיאִים אִישׁ מֵחֶזְיֹנוֹ בְּהִנָּבְאֹתוֹ וְלֹא יִלְבְּשׁוּ אַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר לְמַעַן כַּחֵשׁ

It shall be on that day, that the prophets will be ashamed, each of his vision that he prophesies. Prophets will be ashamed of their visions, as prophecy will be considered an embarrassment. And they will not don a cloak of hair, a remarkably plain garment traditionally worn by prophets, in order to deceive and hide their status as prophets.

וְאָמַר לֹא נָבִיא אָנֹכִי אִישׁ־עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה אָנֹכִי כִּי־אָדָם הִקְנַנִי מִנְּעוּרָי

But He will say: I am not a prophet; rather, I am a cultivator of the earth, a simple farmer, as a person purchased me in my youth. I was acquired to work with chattel and property when I was still young. Not only will the prophet, a man of the spirit and a visionary, not wish to prophesy, he will even deny that he was ever a prophet.

וְאָמַר אֵלָיו מָה הַמַּכּוֹת הָאֵלֶּה בֵּין יָדֶיךָ וְאָמַר אֲשֶׁר הֻכֵּיתִי בֵּית מְאַהֲבָי

One other person will say to him: What are those wounds between your arms? Occasionally, when they claimed to be receiving the prophetic spirit, false prophets would act in an unruly manner, lacerating and perhaps even beating themselves. When they see the wounds on his body, they will ask him: If you are indeed a simple man, why do you have these marks? Then he, the prophet, will say: That is the wound which I received when I was beaten in the house of my friends.

חֶרֶב עוּרִי עַל־רֹעִי וְעַל־גֶּבֶר עֲמִיתִי נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת הַךְ אֶת־הָרֹעֶה וּתְפוּצֶיןָ הַצֹּאן וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי יָדִי עַל־הַצֹּעֲרִים

Sword of war, or the sword of a plague, rouse against My shepherd, leader, and punish him, and awake against the man who is My friend, the important people, God’s colleagues, as it were – the utterance of the Lord of hosts; strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered in all directions and left rudderless; and I will turn My hand against the novices. I will smite the shepherd’s assistants as well. The current leadership will be entirely wiped out.

וְהָיָה בְכָל־הָאָרֶץ נְאֻם־ה' פִּי־שְׁנַיִם בָּהּ יִכָּרְתוּ יִגְוָעוּ וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית יִוָּתֶר בָּהּ

It shall be in all the land – the utterance of the Lord – that two portions of it will be eliminated and expire, two-thirds of the population of the world will perish; and the last third alone will remain in it.

וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶת־הַשְּׁלִשִׁית בָּאֵשׁ וּצְרַפְתִּים כִּצְרֹף אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וּבְחַנְתִּים כִּבְחֹן אֶת־הַזָּהָב הוּא יִקְרָא בִשְׁמִי וַאֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה אֹתוֹ אָמַרְתִּי עַמִּי הוּא וְהוּא יֹאמַר ה' אֱלֹהָי

I will bring the surviving third through the fire, and I will refine them as one refines and purifies silver; I will test them as one tests gold, in order to purify it thoroughly. Finally, after all those who are unsuitable have been removed, he, who has passed all the tests, will call in My name, and I will answer him. I said: They are My people, and they for their part will say: The Lord is my God.