Zechariah, 12

1. A proclamation. The word of Yahweh about Israel (and also about Judah). Yahweh, who spread out the heaven and founded the earth and formed the human spirit within, declares:

1. An Oracle The word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus says the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:

2. 'Look, I shall make Jerusalem a cup to set all the surrounding peoples reeling. (That will be at the time of the siege of Jerusalem.)

2. "Lo, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem.

3. 'When that day comes, I shall make Jerusalem a stone too heavy for all the peoples to lift; all those who try to lift it will hurt themselves severely, although all the nations of the world will be massed against her.

3. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will come together against it.

4. When that day comes -- declares Yahweh -- I shall strike all the horses with panic and their riders with madness. And I shall strike all the peoples with blindness. (But I shall keep watch over Judah.)

4. On that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5. Then the rulers of Judah will say to themselves, "The strength of the inhabitants of Jerusalem lies in Yahweh Sabaoth their God."

5. Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, `The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.'

6. When that day comes, I shall make the rulers of Judah like a brazier burning in a pile of wood, like a torch flaming in a sheaf; and they will devour all the peoples round them to right and left. And Jerusalem will be full of people as before, where she stands (in Jerusalem).

6. "On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour to the right and to the left all the peoples round about, while Jerusalem shall still be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

7. Yahweh will first save the tents of Judah, so that the glory of the House of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not increase at Judah's expense.

7. "And the LORD will give victory to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be exalted over that of Judah.

8. When that day comes, Yahweh will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and the frailest of them will be like David when that day comes, and the House of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh, at their head.

8. On that day the LORD will put a shield about the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, at their head.

9. 'When that day comes, I shall set about destroying all the nations who advance against Jerusalem.

9. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10. But over the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem I shall pour out a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look to me. They will mourn for the one whom they have pierced as though for an only child, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child.

10. "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.

11. When that day comes, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon in the Plain of Megiddo.

11. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrim'mon in the plain of Megid'do.

12. And the country will mourn clan by clan: The clan of the House of David by itself, and their women by themselves; the clan of the House of Nathan by itself, and their women by themselves;

12. The land shall mourn, each family by itself; 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 clan of the House of Levi by itself, and their women by themselves; the clan of the House of Shimei by itself, and their women by themselves;

13. the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shim'e-ites by itself, and their wives by themselves;

14. all the rest of the clans, every clan by itself, and their women by themselves.'

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