Zechariah 12

1 The oracle of the word of Yahweh, on Israel, —Declareth Yahweh—Stretching out the heavens, and founding the earth, and fashioning the spirit of man within him:

The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel; says the Lord, that stretches out the sky, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

2 Lo! I am making Jerusalem a bowl of reeling to all the peoples, round about, —Moreover also, on Judah, shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem;

Behold, I [will] make Jerusalem as trembling door-posts to all the nations round about, and in Judea there shall be a siege against Jerusalem.

3 And it shall come to pass, in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a lifting-stone, to all the peoples, all who seek to lift her, shall, cut themselves in pieces, —though all the nations of the earth, gather themselves together against her.

And it shall come to pass in that day [that] I will make Jerusalem a trodden stone to all the nations: every one that tramples on it shall utterly mock at [it], and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.

4 In that day, Declareth Yahweh, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness, —and, over the house of Judah, will I keep opening mine eyes, and, every horse of the peoples, will I smite with blindness.

In that day, says the Lord Almighty, I will strike every horse with amazement, and his rider with madness: but I will open mine eyes upon the house of Juda, and I will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness.

5 Then will the chiefs of Judah say in their hearts, —A strength unto me, [would be] the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in Yahweh of hosts, their God.

And the captains of thousands of Juda shall say in their hearts, We shall find for ourselves the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Lord Almighty their God.

6 In that day, will I make the chiefs of Judah like a pan of fire among sticks, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf, so shall they devour, on the right hand and on the left, all the peoples round about; so shall Jerusalem yet, be inhabited, in her own place, as Jerusalem.

In that day I will make the captains of thousands of Juda as a firebrand among wood, and as a torch of fire in stubble; and they shall devour on the right hand and on the left all the nations round about: and Jerusalem shall dwell again by herself, [even] in Jerusalem.

7 But Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, —lest the honour of the house of David, and the honour of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, should be magnified over Judah.

And the Lord shall save the tabernacles of Juda as at the beginning, that the boast of the house of David, and the pride of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, may not magnify themselves against Juda.

8 In that day, will Yahweh, throw a covering, around the inhabitant of Jerusalem, so shall the tottering among them, in that day, become like David, —and the house of David—like God, like the messenger of Yahweh, before them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and the weak one among them in that day shall be as David, and the house of David as the house of God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

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

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 But I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of favour, and of supplications, and they will look unto me, whom they have pierced, —and will wail over him, as one waileth over an only son, and will make bitter outcry over him, as one maketh bitter outcry over a firstborn.

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and compassion: and they shall look upon me, because they have mocked [me], and they shall make lamentation for him, as for a beloved [friend], and they shall grieve intensely, as for a firstborn [son].

11 In that day, will the wailing, be great, in Jerusalem, as the wailing of Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Megiddon;

In that day the lamentation in Jerusalem shall be very great, as the mourning for the pomegranate grove cut down in the plain.

12 So shall the land, wail, family by 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 shall lament in separate families, the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; 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 Shimei, apart, —and their wives apart:

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

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

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