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:
A prophecy: This message came from the Lord concerning Israel, a declaration of the Lord who spread out the heavens, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who placed the breath of life within human beings.
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.
Look! I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup containing alcoholic drink that will make all the surrounding nations stagger like drunks when they come to attack Judah and 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.
On that day I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock to all peoples. Anyone who tries to lift the rock will injure themselves badly. All the nations will join together to attack Jerusalem.
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.
On that day I will make every horse panic-stricken and every rider go mad, declares the Lord, but I will watch over the people of Judah while I blind all the horses of their enemies.
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.’
Then the families of Judah will say to themselves, the people of Jerusalem are strong in their God, the Lord Almighty.
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.
On that day I will make the families of Judah like burning coals in a wood, like a flaming torch in a field of straw. They will burn up to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while the people of Jerusalem will live safely in their city.
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].
The Lord will give the victory to the soldiers of Judah first so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not be greater than that of Judah.
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.
On that day the Lord will place a shield around the people of Jerusalem so that even the clumsiest of them will be as skilled a warrior as David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who leads them.
9 At that time, I will prepare to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”
On that day I will start destroying all those nations that attack 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].
I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They will look at me whom they pierced, and they will wail in grief over him, mourning as for an only child, weeping bitterly as for a firstborn.
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.
On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning in Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.
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,
The land will mourn, every family alone: the family house of David alone and their women by themselves, the families of Nathan,
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,
Levi, and Shimei—
14 and all the other members [of the kings’ clans and the priests’ clans] by themselves, and their wives by themselves.”
and all the surviving families and their women, each group mourning alone by themselves.
