Zechariah 12

1 The burden of a word of Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst.

[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:

2 Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.

“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.

3 And it hath 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.

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.

4 In that day — an affirmation of Jehovah, I do smite 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 smite with blindness.

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.

5 And leaders of Judah have said in their heart, 'Strength to me [are] the inhabitants of Jerusalem, In Jehovah of Hosts their God.'

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.’

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 peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.

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.

7 And saved hath Jehovah the tents of Judah first, So that become not great against Judah Doth the beauty of the house of David, And the beauty of the inhabitant of Jerusalem.

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].

8 In that day cover over doth Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in that day as David, And the house of David as God — As a messenger of Jehovah — before them.

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.

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

At that time, I will prepare to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”

10 And I have poured on the house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, A spirit of grace and supplications, And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over it, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in bitterness for it, Like a bitterness over the first-born.

“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].

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

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.

12 And mourned hath the land — 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;

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,

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

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,

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

and all the other members [of the kings’ clans and the priests’ clans] by themselves, and their wives by themselves.”