Zechariah 13:8

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

In all the land, declares the LORD, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but one-third will be left in it.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְהָיָ֤ה בְכָל־הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה פִּֽי־שְׁנַ֣יִם בָּ֔הּ יִכָּרְת֖וּ יִגְוָ֑עוּ וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁ֖ית יִוָּ֥תֶר בָּֽהּ׃

Transliteration

And hāyâ in ḵāl-hā'āreṣ, nə'um-YHWH, pî-šənayim in bāh yikkārəṯû yigwā'û, and haššəlišîṯ yiwwāṯēr in bāh.

Grammar Details

• *hāyâ*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular with waw consecutive - and it will happen/and it will come to pass
• *ḵāl*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - all of/whole of
• *hā'āreṣ*: noun, feminine, singular with definite article - the land/the earth
• *nə'um*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - declaration of
• *YHWH*: proper noun - LORD/Yahweh
• *pî*: noun, masculine, singular, construct - mouth of/portion of
• *šənayim*: numeral, masculine, dual - two
• *bāh*: preposition with 3rd person feminine singular suffix - in it/in her
• *yikkārəṯû*: verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they will be cut off
• *yigwā'û*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they will die/they will perish
• *haššəlišîṯ*: adjective, feminine, singular with definite article - the third part
• *yiwwāṯēr*: verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - it will be left/it will remain

Word Meanings

• *pî*: mouth of/portion of/measure of/two-thirds
• *yikkārəṯû*: they will be cut off/they will be destroyed/they will be eliminated
• *yigwā'û*: they will die/they will perish/they will expire
• *yiwwāṯēr*: it will be left/it will remain/it will be spared

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  And it shall come to pass that in all the land, says the LORD, two-thirds shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land,{H776} saith{H5002} Jehovah,{H3068} two{H8147} parts{H6310} therein shall be cut off{H3772} and die;{H1478} but the third{H7992} shall be left{H3498} therein.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land{H776}, saith{H5002}{(H8803)} the LORD{H3068}, two{H8147} parts{H6310} therein shall be cut off{H3772}{(H8735)} and die{H1478}{(H8799)}; but the third{H7992} shall be left{H3498}{(H8735)} therein.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And it shal come to passe (sayeth the LORDE) that in all the londe two partes shalbe roted out, but the thirde parte shal remayne therin.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And in all the land, sayeth the Lord, two partes therein shall be cut off, and die: but the third shall be left therein.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And it shall come to passe saith the Lorde, that in all the lande two partes shalbe rooted out, but the third part shall remayne therein.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, Two parts in it will be cut off and die; But the third will be left in it.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And it hath come to pass, In all the land, an affirmation of Jehovah, Two parts in it are cut off -- they expire, And the third is left in it.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And it will come about that in all the land, says the Lord, two parts of it will be cut off and come to an end; but the third will be still living there.

• World English Bible (2000)

  It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, "two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  It will happen in all the land, says the LORD, that two-thirds of the people in it will be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it.

Referenced Verses

• Ezek 5:12 : 12 One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you. Another third will fall by the sword around you, and the final third I will scatter to every wind and pursue with a drawn sword.
• Ezek 5:2-4 : 2 A third of it you shall burn in the fire within the city when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take another third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And the final third you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe a sword to chase after them. 3 Take some small amount of the hair and bind it in the edges of your garment. 4 Then take some of these again, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From it, a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
• Isa 6:13 : 13 Yet a tenth will remain in the land, and it will once again be ravaged. Like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled, the holy seed is its stump.
• Isa 65:12-15 : 12 I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in. 13 Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, my servants will eat, but you will go hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.' 14 Behold, my servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from the pain of your hearts and wail from a broken spirit. 15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for my chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will put you to death; but to his servants, he will give another name.
• Isa 66:4-6 : 4 So I also will choose harsh punishments for them and bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen. Instead, they did what was evil in My eyes and chose what I did not delight in. 5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: 'Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake, have said, "Let the Lord be glorified, so that we may see your joy." But they will be put to shame.' 6 A sound of uproar from the city! A sound from the temple! The sound of the Lord repaying His enemies what they deserve.
• Isa 66:24 : 24 Then they will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; their worm will not die, their fire will not be quenched, and they will be abhorrent to all mankind.
• Jer 30:11 : 11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you with justice but will not leave you entirely unpunished.
• Deut 28:49-68 : 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand. 50 It will be a fierce and ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and no mercy for the young. 51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, or fresh oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have wiped you out. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until your high fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down. They will besiege all the cities in the land the LORD your God has given you. 53 Because of the suffering your enemy inflicts upon you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of your womb—the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most tender and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who are still alive. 55 He will not share with any of them the flesh of his children that he is eating, because he has nothing else during the suffering and siege that your enemy will inflict on all your cities. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you, so refined that she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she loves, her son, and her daughter. 57 She will secretly eat her afterbirth and the children she bears during the siege and suffering that your enemy inflicts upon your cities, because she is in dire need of food. 58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law that are written in this book, and do not fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God— 59 then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues upon you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and enduring diseases. 60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not written in this Book of the Law, until you are completely destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations, you will find no peace, and no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be filled with fear night and day, and you will not be sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights your eyes will see. 68 The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, in the way I said you would never see again. There, you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
• Dan 9:27 : 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.
• Joel 2:31-32 : 31 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
• Amos 9:8-9 : 8 'Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,' declares the Lord. 9 For behold, I am giving the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes a sieve, but not a single pebble shall fall to the ground.
• Zech 11:6-9 : 6 For I will no longer show pity to the people of the land,' declares the LORD. 'I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will crush the land, and I will not deliver them from their power.' 7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs—one I called Favor and the other Union—and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I disposed of the three shepherds. My soul was impatient with them, and their soul also loathed me. 9 Then I said, 'I will not shepherd you any longer. Let the dying die, and let the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.'
• Zech 14:1-2 : 1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when your plunder will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle, and the city will be captured, the houses will be plundered, and the women violated. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
• Mal 3:1-2 : 1 Behold, I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Suddenly, the Lord whom you are seeking will come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—behold, he is coming, 2
• Mal 3:5 : 5 I will come near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, and those who swear falsely; against those who defraud workers of their wages, oppress widows and orphans, and deprive foreigners of justice. They do not fear me, says the Lord of Hosts.
• Matt 3:10-12 : 10 Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
• Matt 21:43-44 : 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him to powder.
• Matt 22:7 : 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
• Matt 23:35-37 : 35 so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly, I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
• Matt 24:21-22 : 21 For at that time there will be great tribulation, unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, and never will happen again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
• Mark 13:20 : 20 If the Lord had not shortened those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has shortened them.
• Luke 19:41-44 : 41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept over it. 42 He said, 'If you had known on this day, even you, the things that would bring you peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.' 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build a barricade against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.
• Luke 20:16-18 : 16 He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said, 'May it never happen!' 17 But Jesus looked at them and said, 'Then what is this that is written: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"?' 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush them.'
• Luke 21:20-24 : 20 When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those in the countryside must not enter it. 22 For these are days of vengeance, so that all that is written may be fulfilled. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken as captives to all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• Luke 23:28-30 : 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For look, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' 30 Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'
• Rom 9:27-29 : 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the children of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.' 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on the earth fully and decisively. 29 And just as Isaiah said previously: 'Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.'
• Rom 11:1-5 : 1 So I ask, did God reject His people? Certainly not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the story of Elijah, how he pleaded with God against Israel? 3 "Lord, they have killed Your prophets, and have torn down Your altars. I alone am left, and they seek my life." 4 But what was God’s answer to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
• 1 Thess 2:15-16 : 15 They killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and they drove us out. They do not please God and are hostile to everyone. 16 They forbid us to speak to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way, they constantly fill up the measure of their sins. But the wrath of God has come upon them fully.
• Rev 8:7-9 : 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky onto a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the water because it was made bitter. 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them went dark. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise, the night.
• Rev 16:19 : 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. Babylon the Great was remembered before God, and He gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath.