The Book of the Prophet Zechariah 12 The destruction of the enemies of God's people. The repentance and purification of Israel

 The Book of the Prophet Zechariah 12

The destruction of the enemies of God's people. The repentance and purification of Israel

1 The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him.

2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the surrounding peoples, and also to Judah when they are besieged.

3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall be cut in pieces, and all the nations of the earth shall gather against it.

4 In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness; and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, “My strength is the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the Lord of hosts, their God.”

6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a burning coal under a wood burner, and like a torch among sheaves; they will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right and on the left, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again in its own place, even in Jerusalem.

7 But 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 above Judah.

8 On that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and whoever among them stumbles on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.

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

10 And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and 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 weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo.

12 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;

13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves.

14 And all the other families, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.