Zechariah 13:9

This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks a direct oracle to the remnant of Israel, immediately after declaring that two-thirds will be cut off (Zechariah 13:8). The moment is one of divine selection and purification, not yet restoration.

The words — The root צרף (tsaraph) appears twice: as the finite verb "I will refine them" (צְרַפְתִּי) and in the comparative "as one refines" (כִצְרֹף), both describing the smelting process applied to silver.

The thread — The call-and-answer pattern ("they will call on My name, and I will answer") recurs in Psalms 50:15 and is quoted in Acts 2:21 from Joel 2:32. The refining metaphor also appears in Isaiah 1:25 and Proverbs 3:18.

Why it lands — The sequence is fixed: fire precedes the calling, and the calling precedes the mutual declaration of belonging. The reader is not invited to call first and then be refined; the verse says the refined ones are the ones who call.

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

וְהֵבֵאתִ֤יve./he.ve.Tiand/ I will bring אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙ha./she.li.Shitthe/ third [part]בָּאֵ֔שׁba./'Eshin the/ fire וּצְרַפְתִּים֙u./tze.raf.Ti/mand/ I will refine/ them כִּצְרֹ֣ףki/tz.Rofas/ refines אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַכֶּ֔סֶףha./Ke.sef<the>/ silver וּבְחַנְתִּ֖יםu./ve.chan.Ti/mand/ I will test/ them כִּבְחֹ֣ןki/v.Chonas/ tests אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַזָּהָ֑בha./za.Hav<the>/ gold ה֣וּא׀hu'it יִקְרָ֣אyik.Ra'it will call בִשְׁמִ֗יvi/sh.M/ion/ name/ my וַֽאֲנִי֙Va./'a.niand/ I אֶעֱנֶ֣ה'e.'e.NehI will answer אֹת֔וֹ'o.T/o<obj.>/ it אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙'a.Mar.tiI will say עַמִּ֣י'a.M/i[is] people/ my ה֔וּאHu'it וְה֥וּאve./Hu'and/ it יֹאמַ֖רyo.Marit will say יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהָֽי׃ ס'e.lo.Ha/i[is] God/ my

King James Version

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Cross-references

Psalms 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
Acts 2:21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Isaiah 65:23 They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
Isaiah 48:10 See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
Psalms 91:15 When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Revelation 21:7 The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.