Zechariah 13:2

THE MESSAGE

"On the Big Day"—this is God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaking—"I will wipe out the store-bought gods, erase their names from memory. People will forget they ever heard of them. And I'll get rid of the prophets who polluted the air with their diseased words. If anyone dares persist in spreading diseased, polluting words, his very own parents will step in and say, ‘That's it! You're finished! Your lies about God put everyone in danger,' and then they'll stab him to death in the very act of prophesying lies about God —his own parents, mind you!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will banish the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

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

King James Version (1611)
And it shal come to passe in that day, saith the Lord of hostes, that I will cut off the names of the idoles out of the land: and they shal no more be remembred: and also I wil cause the prophets, and the vncleane spirit to passe out of the land.

King James Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

English Standard Version
"And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness.

New American Standard Bible
"And it will come about on that day," declares the LORD of armies, "that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

New Century Version
The Lord All-Powerful says, "At that time I will get rid of the names of the idols from the land; no one will remember them anymore. I will also remove the prophets and unclean spirits from the land.

Amplified Bible
"In that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And in that day, sayth the Lord of hostes, I will cut off the names of the idoles out of the land: and they shall no more be remembred: and I will cause the prophets, and the vncleane spirit to depart out of the land.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"It will come about in that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Legacy Standard Bible
"And it will be in that day," declares Yahweh of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass away from the land.

Berean Standard Bible
And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord All-Powerful says: When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them.

Complete Jewish Bible
"When that day comes," says Adonai -Tzva'ot, "I will cut off the very names of the idols from the land, so that no one even remembers them any more. I will also expel the [false] prophets and the spirit of uncleanness from the land;

Darby Translation
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, [that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord All-Powerful says, "At that time I will remove all the idols from the earth. People will not even remember their names, and I will remove the false prophets and unclean spirits from the earth.

George Lamsa Translation
And it shall come to pass on that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will do away with the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will remove from the land the false prophets and the unclean spirits.

Good News Translation
At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them any more. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols.

Lexham English Bible
And then, on that day,' declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land.

Literal Translation
And it shall be in that day, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall be remembered no more, says Jehovah of Hosts. And I also will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

American Standard Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Bible in Basic English
And it will come about on that day, says the Lord of armies, that I will have the names of the images cut off out of the land, and there will be no more memory of them: and I will send all the prophets and the unclean spirit away from the land.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And then saith the Lorde of hoastes, I wyll destroy the names of the idols out of the lande: so that they shal no more be put in remembraunce: As for the false prophetes also, and the vncleane spirites, I wyl take them out of the lande.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from off the land, and there shall be no longer any remembrance of them: and I will cut off the false prophets and the evil spirit from the land.

English Revised Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

World English Bible
It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it schal be, in that dai, seith the Lord of oostis, Y schal distrie names of idols fro `the lond, and thei schulen no more be `thouyt on; and Y schal take awei fro erthe false profetis, and an vnclene spirit.

Update Bible Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, [that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

New English Translation
And also on that day," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

New King James Version
"It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.

New Living Translation
"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.

New Life Bible
"On that day," says the Lord of All, "I will destroy the names of the false gods from the land. They will no longer be remembered. And I will take away from the land those who tell what will happen in the future and the unclean spirit.

New Revised Standard
On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more; and also I will remove from the land the prophets and the unclean spirit.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it shall come to pass, in that day, declareth Yahweh of hosts, That I will cut off the names of idols out of the land, and they shall not be remembered any more, - Moreover also, even the prophets and the spirit of impurity, will I cause to pass away out of the land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, and they shall be remembered no more: and I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit out of the earth.

Revised Standard Version
"And on that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more; and also I will remove from the land the prophets and the unclean spirit.

Young's Literal Translation
And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, I cut off the names of the idols from the land, And they are not remembered any more, And also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I cause to pass away from the land.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And then (sayeth the LORDE off hoostes) I will destroye the names of Idols out off the londe: so that they shal nomore be put in remembraunce. As for the false prophetes also and the vnclene sprete, I shall take them out of the londe:

Contextual Overview

¹ "On the Big Day, a fountain will be opened for the family of David and all the leaders of Jerusalem for washing away their sins, for scrubbing their stained and soiled lives clean. ²"On the Big Day"—this is God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaking—"I will wipe out the store-bought gods, erase their names from memory. People will forget they ever heard of them. And I'll get rid of the prophets who polluted the air with their diseased words. If anyone dares persist in spreading diseased, polluting words, his very own parents will step in and say, ‘That's it! You're finished! Your lies about God put everyone in danger,' and then they'll stab him to death in the very act of prophesying lies about God —his own parents, mind you! ⁴"On the Big Day, the lying prophets will be publicly exposed and humiliated. Then they'll wish they'd never swindled people with their ‘visions.' No more masquerading in prophet clothes. But they'll deny they've even heard of such things: ‘Me, a prophet? Not me. I'm a farmer—grew up on the farm.' And if someone says, ‘And so where did you get that black eye?' they'll say, ‘I ran into a door at a friend's house.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will cut: Exodus 22:13, Deuteronomy 12:3, Joshua 23:7, Psalms 16:4, Isaiah 2:18, Isaiah 2:20, Ezekiel 30:13, Ezekiel 36:25, Ezekiel 37:23, Hosea 2:17, Hosea 14:8, Micah 5:12-14, Zephaniah 1:3, Zephaniah 1:4, Zephaniah 2:11

cause: 1 Kings 22:22, Jeremiah 8:10-12, Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 23:15, Jeremiah 29:23, Ezekiel 13:12-16, Ezekiel 13:23, Ezekiel 14:9, Micah 2:11, Matthew 7:15, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 2 Peter 2:15-19, 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:2, Revelation 19:20

unclean: Matthew 12:43, Luke 11:20, Revelation 16:13, Revelation 16:14, Revelation 18:2, Revelation 20:1-3

Reciprocal: Genesis 26:18 - and he Exodus 23:13 - make no mention Ruth 4:10 - the name 1 Samuel 18:10 - and he prophesied 1 Kings 18:40 - slew them there 2 Kings 11:18 - brake they 2 Kings 23:20 - he slew 2 Chronicles 23:17 - brake his altars Isaiah 17:8 - he shall Isaiah 27:9 - the groves Isaiah 30:22 - defile Jeremiah 10:11 - they Jeremiah 10:15 - in the Jeremiah 23:32 - to err Jeremiah 28:1 - the prophet Ezekiel 6:6 - your altars Ezekiel 12:24 - General Ezekiel 16:41 - and I Ezekiel 23:27 - will I Ezekiel 24:11 - that the filthiness Ezekiel 43:7 - no more Hosea 3:4 - without teraphim Hosea 4:5 - and the prophet Hosea 10:2 - break down Hosea 14:3 - neither Micah 3:6 - night Luke 12:53 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 13:1
So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.

Genesis 13:3
He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God .

Genesis 13:10
Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom. The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God . After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .

Genesis 13:12
So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold. He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God . Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn't support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn't both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time. Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left." Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

Genesis 13:13
The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God .

Proverbs 10:22
God 's blessing makes life rich; nothing we do can improve on God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts,.... In the latter day, at the time of the conversion of the Jews, when they shall turn to the Lord, and their sins shall be forgiven, and washed away in the fountain of his blood; for this refers not to the times of the Babylonish captivity, and their deliverance from that, which was now over, when idolatry ceased among that people; nor to the times of Christ, when soon after the false prophets among the Heathens, and their lying oracles, ceased, and Paganism in the Roman empire was destroyed; but to the times before mentioned, of which it is predicted by the Lord, saying,

[that] I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; meaning the idols of gold, silver, brass, and wood; images of the Virgin Mary, and saints departed, worshipped by the Papists, Revelation 9:20 for at this time mystical Babylon will fall, the idolatry of the church of Rome will be at an end, and will never be revived more:

and also I will cause the prophets, and the unclean spirit, to pass out of the land; by "the prophets" are meant false prophets, as the Targum explains it, even all the Popish hierarchy, pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, c. all that wretched body, which goes by the name of the false prophet, who at the battle of Armageddon will be taken, and with the beast cast alive into the lake of fire, Revelation 19:20 and by "the unclean spirit", or "spirits", the singular for the plural, are meant the three unclean spirits like frogs, and which are the spirits of devils, that come out of the mouth of the dragon beast, and false prophet, the Jesuits, monks, and friars these shall be no more then on the earth, after these times, Revelation 16:13. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret "the unclean spirit" of the corruption of nature; but that will not cease as long as men are in a mortal state. This prophecy is, by the ancient Jews, p applied to the times of the Messiah.

p Zohar in Gen, fol. 53. 4. & 73. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will cut off the names of the idols - This had been a fence against idolatry. To name evil is a temptation to evil. Wrong words are the parents of wrong acts. To speak of evil awakens curiosity or passion; curiosity is one of the strongest incentives to act. All public mention of terrible crimes (it has been observed) produces imitation of the specific form of crime. Hence, it was commanded, “make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” Exodus 23:13. And Joshua names it in his dying charge to Israel, “Be ye therefore very strong to keep and to are all that is written in the book of the law of Moses - either make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them” Joshua 23:6-7. Hence, they “changed” the “names” of cities , which bare idol names. David speaks of it, as part of fealty to God. “I will, not take their names upon my lips” Psalms 16:4.

Hosea prophesies of the times of the new covenant; “I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall be no more remembered by their name” Hosea 2:17. Isaiah, “The idols he shall utterly abolish” Isaiah 2:18. Zechariah foretells their abolition with a turn of words, formed apparently on those of Hosea ; but slightly varied, because the worship of Baal, such a plague-spot in the time of Hosea, one, which continued until the year before the captivity , was gone, He implies nothing as to his own times, whether idolatry still existed. He predicts its entire abolition in the whole compass of the enlarged Judah, that is, of Christendom.

And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land - False prophecy sets itself to meet a craving of human nature to know something of its future. False prophets there were, even in the time of Nehemiah , and those in some number, hired to prophesy against the word of God. Our Lord warns against them. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” Matthew 7:15. “Many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many” Matthew 24:11. Many false prophets, John says, “are gone out into the world” John 4:1. False prophets attended the decline of Judaism. Such was the author of the Jewish Sibylline book, prophesying the destruction of the Romans , and fixing the mind of his people on temporal aggrandizement : false prophets were suborned by the Jewish “tyrants” and encouraged the Jews in the resistance which ruined the devoted city: , false prophets have arisen in Christianity; but, like the Phrygian women who led Tertullian astray, they “went out,” were cast out “from it, as not being of it.”

Cyril: “After that the Only Begotten Word of God appeared to us, the dull and childish toys of idolatry perished and were utterly destroyed, and with it were taken away the strange and impious devices of the false prophets, who were full of the evil, unclean spirit, and could be readily detected as laboring under a kindred disease to the idolaters. For both had one president of impiety, Satan.” Not 50 years after the Crucifixion, a pagan wrote his work, “on the failure of oracles.” The outpouring of the Holy “Spirit of grace and supplication” Zechariah 12:10, should sweep away “the unclean spirit” , (Zechariah alone anticipates the language of the New Testament) which became “a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets” 1 Kings 22:21-23 sought to them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 13:2. I will cut off the names of the idols — There shall not only be no idolatry, but the very names of the idols shall be forgotten, or be held in such abhorrence that no person shall mention them. This prophecy seems to be ancient, and to have been delivered while idolatry had prevalence in Israel and Judah.

I will cause the prophets — All false teachers.

And the unclean spirit — That which leads to impurity, the spirit of divination; the lust of the flesh, and of the eye, and the pride of life. Satan shall have neither a being in, nor power over, the hearts of sincere believers in Christ.