Zechariah 13:3

And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks through Zechariah to Israel, describing a future day when the land is purged of idolatrous names and unclean spirits.

The words — יִנָּבֵא (yi.na.Ve') = he will prophesy and אִישׁ ('ish) = anyone. The text states that even a single individual who continues to prophesy will face direct familial condemnation and execution.

The thread — This theme of confronting false prophecy appears in Deuteronomy 18:20, which mandates consequences for speaking the LORD’s name without command, and Jeremiah 23:34, which warns against claiming the burden of the LORD. It also echoes the context of Deuteronomy 13:6, which describes a close relative secretly enticing another to idolatry.

Why it lands — The passage demands rigorous discernment of spiritual claims and rejects religious performance as a cover for deception. It requires readers to measure every prophetic utterance against the established word of the LORD and to reject any message that contradicts it.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”
Jeremiah 23:34 As for the prophet or priest or anyone who claims, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.
Ezekiel 14:9 But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
Exodus 32:27 He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
2 Corinthians 5:16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Deuteronomy 33:9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.