Zechariah 12

Jerusalem Will Be Attacked

1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. This is the declaration of the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit within a person:

2 “Look, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering for all the surrounding peoples. When the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.

3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who try to lift it will injure themselves severely, and all the nations of the earth will gather against it.

4 On that day,” declares the LORD, “I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. I will keep My eyes on the house of Judah, but I will strike every horse of the nations with blindness.

5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong because the LORD of armies, their God, is with them.’

6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile and like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples on the right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure there.

7 The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so the glory of the house of David and the glory of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.

8 On that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The weakest among them will be like David on that day, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them.

9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

Mourning for the One They Pierced

10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer. They will look on Me, the One they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of HadadRimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

12 The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of David and their wives by themselves, the family of Nathan and their wives by themselves,

13 the family of Levi and their wives by themselves, the family of Shimei and their wives by themselves,

14 and all the remaining families, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.”