Zechariah 12
Expanded Bible
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
12 ·This message is [The oracle/burden of] the word of the Lord ·to [or concerning] Israel. This is what the Lord says, who stretched out the ·skies [heavens], and laid the foundations of the earth [Gen. 1], and ·put [forms] the human spirit within: 2 “I will make Jerusalem like a cup of ·poison [staggering; reeling; drunkenness] to the nations around her. They will come and ·attack [besiege] Jerusalem and Judah. 3 ·One [L And it shall be on that] day all the nations on earth will come together to attack Jerusalem, but I will make it like a ·heavy [immovable] rock; anyone who tries to ·move [carry] it will ·get hurt [be injured]. 4 At that time I will ·confuse [strike with panic] every horse and cause its rider to go crazy,” says the Lord. “I will ·watch over [L open my eyes to] the ·people [L house] of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the ·enemies [nations; peoples]. 5 Then the ·leaders [or clans] of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] is their God.’
6 “At that time I will make the ·leaders [or clans] of Judah like a ·fire burning [firepot on] a stack of wood or like a ·fire burning straw [burning torch among sheaves]. They will ·destroy [consume; devour] all the people around them left and right. But the people of Jerusalem will remain ·safe [L settled in their place].
7 “The Lord will save the ·homes [L tents] of Judah first so that the ·honor given to [glory of] ·David’s family [L the house of David] and to the people of Jerusalem won’t be greater than the ·honor given to [glory of] Judah [C the defenseless countryside would be saved before the fortified city, showing the victory was due to the Lord]. 8 ·At that time [L On that day] the Lord will ·protect [defend] the people in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest of them will be strong like David. And the ·family [house] of David will be like God, like ·an [or the] angel of the Lord in front of them [Gen. 48:16; Ex. 14:19; 23:20]. 9 ·At that time [L On that day] I will ·go [set out; begin] to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Crying for the One They Pierced
10 “I will pour out on ·David’s family [L the house of David] and the ·people in [inhabitants of] Jerusalem a spirit of ·kindness [grace] and ·mercy [prayer; supplication]. They will look at me, the one they have ·stabbed [pierced], and they will ·cry [L mourn/lament for him] like someone ·crying [mourning; lamenting] over the death of an only ·child [son]. They will ·be as sad [grieve bitterly] as someone who has lost a firstborn son. 11 ·At that time [L On that day] there will be much crying in Jerusalem, like the crying for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo [C either where Judah mourned the death of king Josiah (2 Chr. 35:25), or ritualistic mourning associated with the Canaanite storm god (Ezek. 8:14; 2 Kin. 5:18)]. 12 The land will ·cry [mourn], each ·family [clan] by itself: the ·family [clan] of [L the house of] David by itself and their wives by themselves, the ·family [clan] of Nathan [2 Sam. 5:14] by itself and their wives by themselves, 13 the ·family [clan] of Levi [Num. 3:17–18, 21] by itself and their wives by themselves, the ·family [clan] of Shimei [C a clan of Levites; Ex. 6:16–17] by itself and their wives by themselves, 14 and all the rest of the ·families [clans] by themselves and their wives by themselves.
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