Zechariah 12
1 [This is] a message from Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh is the one who stretched out the sky, who created the earth, and who (gave life to humans/caused humans to be alive). This is what he says:
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel; saith the Lord, that stretches out the sky, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.
2 “I will soon cause Jerusalem to be [like] [MET] a cup full [of very strong alcoholic drink], and the people of other nations who drink it will stagger around. And they will come and attack Jerusalem and [the other towns in] Judah.
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 At that time, [the armies of] all the nations will gather to attack Jerusalem, but I will cause [the leaders of] Judah to be [like] [SIM] a very heavy rock, and all who [try to] lift it will be badly injured.
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 At that time I will cause every [one of their enemies’] horses to panic, and their riders to become crazy. I [IDM] will protect the people of Judah, but I will cause all their enemies’ horses to become blind.
In that day, saith the Lord Almighty, I will smite every horse with amazement, and his rider with madness: but I will open mine eyes upon the house of Juda, and I will smite all the horses of the nations with blindness.
5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people in Jerusalem are strong because the Commander of the armies of angels is 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 At that time I will enable the leaders of Judah to be like [SIM] a pan containing hot coals [that is put] in a woodpile [to set it on fire], or like [SIM] a burning torch [that is put] in a [field of] ripe grain [to set it on fire]. The leaders of Judah [and their army] will destroy the people of the surrounding nations in all directions. But [the people of] Jerusalem will remain safe.
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 And [I], Yahweh, will protect the tents of [the soldiers in other places in] Judah before [I rescue the people of Jerusalem], in order that the leaders of Jerusalem [DOU] will not be honored more than [the people in other places in] Judah [are honored].
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 At that time, I will protect [MET] the people of Jerusalem. When that happens, even the weakest people in Jerusalem will be [strong] like [King] David [was]. And the descendants [MTY] of David will [rule the people] like I [would], as though an angel sent from [me], Yahweh, was their leader.
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 At that time, I will prepare to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “I, [Yahweh, ] will cause the descendants [MTY] of [King] David to act very kindly and mercifully. They will look at me, [the one] who has been stabbed, and they will cry bitterly, like people cry for a firstborn son [who has died] [DOU].
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 At that time, many people in Jerusalem will be crying bitterly, like people cried [when King Josiah was killed in the battle] at Hadad-Rimmon on the Megiddo Plain.
In that day the lamentation in Jerusalem shall be very great, as the mourning for the pomegranate grove cut down in the plain.
12 Many people in Judah will cry, each family by themselves: the male descendants of David by themselves, and their wives by themselves, the male descendants of [David’s son] Nathan by themselves, and their wives by themselves,
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 male descendants [MTY] of Levi by themselves, and their wives by themselves, the male descendants of [Levi’s grandson] Shimei by themselves, and their wives by themselves,
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 and all the other members [of the kings’ clans and the priests’ clans] by themselves, and their wives by themselves.”
all the families that are left, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
