Zechariah 12

1 The burden of a word of YHWH on Israel. A declaration of YHWH, Stretching out the heavens, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst:

The word of the Lord about Israel. The Lord by whom the heavens are stretched out and the bases of the earth put in place, and the spirit of man formed inside him, has said:

2 “Behold, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the surrounding peoples, And it is also against Judah, In the siege against Jerusalem.

See, I will make Jerusalem a cup of shaking fear to all the peoples round about, when Jerusalem is shut in.

3 And it has come to pass in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.

And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of great weight for all the peoples; all those who take it up will be badly wounded; and all the nations of the earth will come together against it.

4 In that day,” a declaration of YHWH, “I strike every horse with astonishment, And its rider with madness, And on the house of Judah I open My eyes, And every horse of the peoples I strike with blindness.

In that day, says the Lord, I will put fear into every horse and make every horseman go off his head: and my eyes will be open on the people of Judah, and I will make every horse of the peoples blind.

5 And leaders of Judah have said in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem [are] strength to me, In YHWH of Hosts their God.

And the families of Judah will say in their hearts, The people of Jerusalem have their strength in the Lord of armies, their God.

6 In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed—on the right and on the left—all the surrounding peoples, And Jerusalem has again inhabited her place in Jerusalem.

In that day I will make the families of Judah like a pot with fire in it among trees, and like a flaming stick among cut grain; they will send destruction on all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem will be living again in the place which is hers, that is, in Jerusalem.

7 And YHWH has saved the tents of Judah first, So that the beauty of the house of David does not become great against Judah, And the beauty of the inhabitant of Jerusalem.

And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the family of David and the glory of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah.

8 In that day YHWH covers over the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them has been in that day as David, And the house of David as God—As the Messenger of YHWH—before them.

In that day the Lord will be a cover over the people of Jerusalem; and he who is feeble among them in that day will be as strong as David, and the family of David will be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

9 And it has come to pass in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against Jerusalem,

And it will come about on that day that I will take in hand the destruction of all the nations who come against Jerusalem.

10 And I have poured on the house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, The Spirit of grace and supplications, And they have looked to Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over Him, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in bitterness for Him, Like a bitterness over the firstborn.

And I will send down on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of prayer; and their eyes will be turned to the one who was wounded by their hands: and they will be weeping for him as for an only son, and their grief for him will be bitter, like the grief of one sorrowing for his oldest son.

11 In that day, great is the mourning of Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon,

In that day there will be a great weeping in Jerusalem, like the weeping of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 And the land has mourned—every family apart, The family of the house of David apart, And their women apart; The family of the house of Nathan apart, And their women apart;

And the land will give itself to weeping, every family separately; the family of David by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by themselves, and their wives by themselves;

13 The family of the house of Levi apart, And their women apart; The family of Shimei apart, And their women apart,

The family of Levi by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by themselves, and their wives by themselves;

14 All the families that are left, Every family apart, and their women apart!”

And all the other families by themselves, and their wives by themselves.