Zechariah 13:8

8 The Lord says, "Two-thirds of the people through all the land will die. They will be gone, and one-third will be left.

Zechariah 13:8 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 13:8

And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith
the Lord
Either in all the land of Israel, as Kimchi interprets it; or rather in all the world, as Aben Ezra and others; for this prophecy seems to have respect, not to the calamities of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, after the death of Christ, when a few were saved, a remnant according to the election of grace, yet so as by fire, for whose sake the days of tribulation were shortened; but to the external state of the church, and the trouble of it throughout Christendom, about the time of the destruction of antichrist: two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die;
all hypocrites, formalists, and outward court worshippers; who seem as if they would be at this time two thirds of the professors of true religion; who will not be able to stand the hour of temptation that will come upon all the earth, to try the inhabitants of it; which will be the last struggle of the beast of Rome, ( Revelation 3:10 ) but will be twice dead, plucked up by the roots; will die to the profession of religion, and be cut off from the people of God, and have no more a name with them: but the third shall be left therein;
the few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; the hundred forty and four thousand that will stand with Christ, and by him, on Mount Zion, being redeemed from among men, ( Revelation 3:4 ) ( Revelation 14:1 Revelation 14:4 ) compare with this ( Revelation 16:19 ) .

Zechariah 13:8 In-Context

6 But someone will ask, 'What are the deep cuts on your body?' And each will answer, 'I was hurt at my friend's house.'

7 "Sword, hit the shepherd. Attack the man who is my friend," says the Lord All-Powerful. "Kill the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter, and I will punish the little ones."

8 The Lord says, "Two-thirds of the people through all the land will die. They will be gone, and one-third will be left.

9 The third that is left I will test with fire, purifying them like silver, testing them like gold. Then they will call on me, and I will answer them. I will say, 'You are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'"