Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, August 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

Zechariah 13:5

But he shall say: I am no prophet, I am a husbandman: for Adam is my example from my youth.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Minister, Christian;   Thompson Chain Reference - Agriculture;   Agriculture-Horticulture;   Husbandmen;   The Topic Concordance - Cleanness;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Prophets;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Zechariah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Antichrist;   Apocalyptic Literature;   Husbandman, Husbandry;   Marks;   Micah, Book of;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - False Prophets;   Shepherd;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Zechariah, Prophecy of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Zechariah, Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He will say: I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth.
Hebrew Names Version
but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'
King James Version (1611)
But he shal say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman: for man taught me to keepe cattell from my youth.
King James Version
But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
English Standard Version
but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.'
New American Standard Bible
but he will say, 'I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.'
New Century Version
Each of them will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer and have been a farmer since I was young.'
Amplified Bible
but he will [deny his identity and] say, 'I am no prophet. I work the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.'
Geneva Bible (1587)
But he shall say, I am no Prophet: I am an husbandman: for man taught me to be an heardman from my youth vp.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
but he will say, 'I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.'
Legacy Standard Bible
but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.'
Berean Standard Bible
He will say, 'I am not a prophet; I work the land, for I was purchased as a servant in my youth.'
Contemporary English Version
Instead, they will say, "I'm no prophet. I've been a farmer all my life."
Complete Jewish Bible
and instead, he will say, ‘I'm no prophet, I just work the soil; since my youth I've only wanted to be an ordinary man.'
Darby Translation
And he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for man acquired me [as bondman] from my youth.
Easy-to-Read Version
They will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer. I have worked as a farmer since I was a little child.'
George Lamsa Translation
But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a farmer; and a man made me zealous to prophesy from my youth.
Good News Translation
Instead, he will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer—I have farmed the land all my life.'
Lexham English Bible
but he will say, "I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth."
Literal Translation
But he shall say, I am not a prophet; I am a man, a tiller of the ground, for a man caused me to buy from my youth.
American Standard Version
but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth.
Bible in Basic English
But he will say, I am no prophet, but a worker on the land; for I have been an owner of land from the time when I was young.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
but he shall say: 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth.'
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But he shalbe fayne to say, I am no prophete, I am an husbandman: for so am I taught by man from my youth vp.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And one shall say, I am not a prophet, for I am a tiller of the ground, for a man brought me up thus from my youth.
English Revised Version
but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth.
World English Bible
but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
but `thei schulen seie, Y am not a profete; Y am a man `erthe tiliere, for Adam is myn ensaumple fro my yongthe.
Update Bible Version
but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for man has acquired me from my youth.
Webster's Bible Translation
But he shall say, I [am] no prophet, I [am] a husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
New English Translation
Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet—indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.'
New King James Version
But he will say, "I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.'
New Living Translation
He will say, ‘I'm no prophet; I'm a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.'
New Life Bible
But he will say, ‘I am not a man who speaks for God. I am a farmer. A man sold me as a servant when I was young.'
New Revised Standard
but each of them will say, "I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the soil; for the land has been my possession since my youth."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But he will say, No prophet, am I, - One tilling the ground, am I, for, one of the common people, hath owned me from my youth.
Revised Standard Version
but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the soil; for the land has been my possession since my youth.'
Young's Literal Translation
And [one] hath said, `I am not a prophet, A man, a tiller of ground I am, For ground [is] my possession from my youth.'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he shall be fayne to saye: I am no prophet: I am an husbonde man, for so am I taught by Adam fro my youth vp.

Contextual Overview

1 In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: for the washing of the sinner, and of the unclean woman. 2 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. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when any man shall prophesy any more, his father and his mother that brought him into the world, shall say to him: Thou shalt not live: because thou hast spoken a lie in the name of the Lord. And his father, and his mother, his parents, shall thrust him through, when he shall prophesy. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be confounded, every one by his own vision, when he shall prophesy, neither shall they be clad with a garment of sackcloth, to deceive: 5 But he shall say: I am no prophet, I am a husbandman: for Adam is my example from my youth. 6 And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of thy hands? And he shall say: With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I am no: Amos 7:14, Acts 19:17-20

Reciprocal: Genesis 46:32 - shepherds 1 Kings 19:19 - he with

Cross-References

Genesis 4:20
And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
Genesis 25:27
And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter, and a husbandman: but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.
Jeremiah 49:29
They shall take their tents, and their flocks: and shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels: and they shall call fear upon them round about.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But he shall say, I [am] no prophet,.... That he is not of the Romish clergy, or of any of their religious orders, having laid aside his habit:

I [am] an husbandman; he shall put on the habit of a husbandman, and work for his bread; for he will not be able to support himself, as before, with the sale of pardons and indulgences, and by praying souls out of purgatory; for no man hereafter will buy of his merchandise,

Revelation 18:11 and he will be ashamed of his former calling and traffic, and will not own that he was ever concerned therein; but will affirm that he was never of the Romish clergy, but always a layman, and employed in husbandry:

for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth; he will say he was brought up to husbandry, or in some mechanic business, from his youth, and never was in any convent or monastery, or of any religious order: it may be rendered, "for man made me to work from my youth" u; and is not to be restrained to keeping cattle, or any particular employment.

u הקנני "fecerunt me operari", Noldius; "homo operari fecit me", De Dieu, Burkius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he shall say - Repudiating his former claims, “I am a husbandman:” for a man hath taught me from my youth.” There was no room then for his having been a false prophet, since he had had from his youth one simple unlettered occupation, as Amos said truly of himself; “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son: but I was an herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit” Amos 7:14. The prophet does not approve the lie, any more than our Lord did the injustice of the “unjust steward.” Our Lord contrasted the wisdom “in their generation” of a bad man for his ends, with the unwisdom of “the children of light,” who took no pains to secure their God. Zechariah pictures vividly, how people would anyhow rid themselves of all suspicion of false prophesying.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 13:5. But he shall say, I am no prophet — This must be the case of a false prophet or diviner, who had been obliged to give up his infamous practice, and become even a labourer in the land. But having been known to be such, he is questioned by the people to see if he still were addicted in heart to the same practices. He declares he is no prophet, neither true nor false; that he is now a husbandman, and was brought up a herdsman.


 
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