Zechariah 13:9
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate, ”says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones. 8 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. 9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
Wisdom of Solomon 3:6
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. 5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. 7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. 8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever.
Notes and References
"... Compare with Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:3; Psalm 66:10; Proverbs 17:3; Sirach 2:5; lQH 5.15-15; Daniel 11:35; 12:10; Philo Sacr. 80: "Again, let the fresh ripeness of the soul be 'roasted,' that is tested by the might of reason, as gold is tested by the furnace"; Seneca De Providentia 5:10: "Fire tests gold, misfortune brave men"; 16.1.6: "God does not make a spoiled pet of a good man; he tests him, hardens him, and fits him for his own service"; 4.7: "God hardens, reviews, and disciplines those whom he approves, whom he loves. Those, however, whom he seems to favor ... he is really keeping soft against ills to come"; 3.3; Menander Fragments 691, ('smelting furnace') is found only in the LXX (1 Kings 8:51 and elsewhere) and Patristic literature ..."
Winston, David The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (p. 128) Doubleday, 1979