Zechariah 12

1 The prophecy of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus saith Jehovah, who stretched out the heavens, And laid the foundation of the earth, And formed the spirit of man within him:

An oracle. This is the message of the Lord about Israel. The Lord who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the human spirit within people says:

2 Behold, I make Jerusalem a cup of giddiness to all the nations round about, And for Judah also shall it be In the siege against Jerusalem.

Look! I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness for all the surrounding peoples. There will be a siege of Jerusalem.

3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem A burdensome stone for all nations; All that lift it up shall tear themselves, And all the nations of the earth shall gather themselves together against it.

On that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone to be lifted up by all the peoples. All who lift it up will surely hurt themselves! And all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.

4 In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with amazement, And his rider with madness; I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, And every horse of the nations will I smite with blindness.

On that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. But over the house of Judah I will keep watch, though I strike every horse belonging to the peoples with blindness.

5 Then shall the leaders of Judah say in their heart, “Strong are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Through Jehovah of hosts, their God.”

And the chieftains of Judah will say to themselves, “The strength of the inhabitants is in the Lord of hosts their God.”

6 In that day will I make the leaders of Judah Like a fire-pan among wood, And like a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they shall devour, on the right hand and on the left, All the nations round about. And Jerusalem shall again dwell in her own place at Jerusalem.

In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire in the woods, like a torch among sheaves, they will devour right and left all the surrounding peoples. But Jerusalem will abide on its own site.

7 Jehovah will also save the tents of Judah first, That the glory of the house of David, And the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, May not magnify itself against Judah.

And the Lord will first give victory to the tents of Judah, so that the glory of the house of David, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not exalted above Judah.

8 In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And he that is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, And the house of David shall be as God, As the angel of Jehovah before them.

In that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the feeblest among them will in that day be like David, and the house of David like God, like the messenger of the Lord before them.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day That I will seek to destroy all the nations Which come against Jerusalem.

And in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who have come up against Jerusalem.

10 Then will I pour upon the house of David, And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, A spirit of supplication, and of prayer; And they shall look to me whom they pierced, And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of pity and compassion. They will look on him whom they have pierced and they will lament for him as one laments for an only son. They will bitterly grieve for him as one grieves for the firstborn.

11 In that day the mourning shall be great in Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

In that day mourning will be as great in Jerusalem as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; The family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

And the land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves, and the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves,

13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

and the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves, the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves,

14 All the families that remain, Every family apart, and their wives apart.

and all the families who are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.