Zechariah 12

1 A prophecy: This message came from the Lord concerning Israel, a declaration of the Lord who spread out the heavens, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who placed the breath of life within human beings.

This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning Israel—a declaration of Yahweh, who stretched out the skies and laid the foundation of the earth, who fashions the spirit of mankind within man,

2 Look! I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup containing alcoholic drink that will make all the surrounding nations stagger like drunks when they come to attack Judah and Jerusalem.

“See, I am about to make Jerusalem into a cup causing all the peoples surrounding her to stagger about. It will also be like that for Judah during the siege against Jerusalem.

3 On that day I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock to all peoples. Anyone who tries to lift the rock will injure themselves badly. All the nations will join together to attack Jerusalem.

On that day, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. Anyone trying to lift that stone will hurt himself very much, and all the nations of the earth will gather against that city.

4 On that day I will make every horse panic-stricken and every rider go mad, declares the Lord, but I will watch over the people of Judah while I blind all the horses of their enemies.

On that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. Over the house of Judah I will open my eyes, but every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness.

5 Then the families of Judah will say to themselves, the people of Jerusalem are strong in their God, the Lord Almighty.

Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength because of Yahweh of hosts, their God.'

6 On that day I will make the families of Judah like burning coals in a wood, like a flaming torch in a field of straw. They will burn up to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while the people of Jerusalem will live safely in their city.

On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like firepots among wood and like a flaming torch among standing grain, for they will consume all the surrounding peoples on their right and on their left. Jerusalem will again live in her own place.”

7 The Lord will give the victory to the soldiers of Judah first so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not be greater than that of Judah.

Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem may not be greater than the rest of Judah.

8 On that day the Lord will place a shield around the people of Jerusalem so that even the clumsiest of them will be as skilled a warrior as David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who leads them.

On that day Yahweh will be the defender of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on that day those who are weak among them will be like David, while the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh in front of them.

9 On that day I will start destroying all those nations that attack Jerusalem.

“On that day that I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They will look at me whom they pierced, and they will wail in grief over him, mourning as for an only child, weeping bitterly as for a firstborn.

But I will pour out a spirit of compassion and pleading on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so they will look on me, the one they have pierced. They will mourn for me, as one mourns for an only son; they will bitterly lament for him like those who lament the death of a firstborn son.

11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning in Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

On that day the laments in Jerusalem will be like the laments at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

12 The land will mourn, every family alone: the family house of David alone and their women by themselves, the families of Nathan,

The land will mourn, each clan separate from other clans. The clan of the house of David will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the house of Nathan will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men.

13 Levi, and Shimei—

The clan of the house of Levi will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the Shimeites will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men.

14 and all the surviving families and their women, each group mourning alone by themselves.

Every clan of the remaining clans—each clan will be separate and the wives will be separate from the men.”