Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Zechariah 12
The LORD Will Defend Jerusalem
An oracle.
The word of the LORD concerning Israel.
Thus says the LORD,
who stretches out the heavens,
lays the foundation of the earth,
and forms the human spirit within:
Look, I am making Jerusalem
a cup of staggering
for all the surrounding peoples.
Judah also will be caught
in the siege against Jerusalem.
On that day I will make Jerusalem
a heavy stone for all the peoples.
Everyone who lifts it
will be severely injured,
and all the nations of the earth
will gather against it.
On that day, says the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. But over the house of Judah I will open my eyes, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength through the LORD of Hosts, their God.” On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among wood and like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples to the right and to the left, while Jerusalem will again remain in its own place, in Jerusalem.
The LORD Will Save Judah
And the LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be exalted over Judah. On that day the LORD will shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the one who stumbles among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
They Will Look to Me Whom They Pierced
I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look to me, whom they pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves bitterly for a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
The Land Will Mourn
The land will 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;
the family of the house of Levi by itself,
and their wives by themselves;
the family of the Shimeites by itself,
and their wives by themselves;
and all the remaining families,
each family by itself,
and their wives by themselves.