Zechariah 12

1 This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning Israel—a declaration of Yahweh, who stretched out the skies and laid the foundation of the earth, who fashions the spirit of mankind within man,

The word of the Lord about Israel. The Lord by whom the heavens are stretched out and the bases of the earth put in place, and the spirit of man formed inside him, has said:

2 “See, I am about to make Jerusalem into a cup causing all the peoples surrounding her to stagger about. It will also be like that for Judah during the siege against Jerusalem.

See, I will make Jerusalem a cup of shaking fear to all the peoples round about, when Jerusalem is shut in.

3 On that day, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. Anyone trying to lift that stone will hurt himself very much, and all the nations of the earth will gather against that city.

And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of great weight for all the peoples; all those who take it up will be badly wounded; and all the nations of the earth will come together against it.

4 On that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. Over the house of Judah I will open my eyes, but every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness.

In that day, says the Lord, I will put fear into every horse and make every horseman go off his head: and my eyes will be open on the people of Judah, and I will make every horse of the peoples blind.

5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength because of Yahweh of hosts, their God.'

And the families of Judah will say in their hearts, The people of Jerusalem have their strength in the Lord of armies, their God.

6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like firepots among wood and like a flaming torch among standing grain, for they will consume all the surrounding peoples on their right and on their left. Jerusalem will again live in her own place.”

In that day I will make the families of Judah like a pot with fire in it among trees, and like a flaming stick among cut grain; they will send destruction on all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem will be living again in the place which is hers, that is, in Jerusalem.

7 Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem may not be greater than the rest of Judah.

And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the family of David and the glory of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah.

8 On that day Yahweh will be the defender of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on that day those who are weak among them will be like David, while the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh in front of them.

In that day the Lord will be a cover over the people of Jerusalem; and he who is feeble among them in that day will be as strong as David, and the family of David will be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

9 “On that day that I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

And it will come about on that day that I will take in hand the destruction of all the nations who come against Jerusalem.

10 But I will pour out a spirit of compassion and pleading on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so they will look on me, the one they have pierced. They will mourn for me, as one mourns for an only son; they will bitterly lament for him like those who lament the death of a firstborn son.

And I will send down on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of prayer; and their eyes will be turned to the one who was wounded by their hands: and they will be weeping for him as for an only son, and their grief for him will be bitter, like the grief of one sorrowing for his oldest son.

11 On that day the laments in Jerusalem will be like the laments at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

In that day there will be a great weeping in Jerusalem, like the weeping of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 The land will mourn, each clan separate from other clans. The clan of the house of David will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the house of Nathan will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men.

And the land will give itself to weeping, every family separately; the family of David by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by themselves, and their wives by themselves;

13 The clan of the house of Levi will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the Shimeites will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men.

The family of Levi by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by themselves, and their wives by themselves;

14 Every clan of the remaining clans—each clan will be separate and the wives will be separate from the men.”

And all the other families by themselves, and their wives by themselves.