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 [^LAnd 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 [^Lopen my eyes to] the ·people [^Lhouse] 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; ^Tof 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 [^Lsettled in their place].

⁷ “The Lord will save the ·homes [^Ltents] of Judah first so that the ·honor given to [glory of] ·David’s family [^Lthe house of David] and to the people of Jerusalem won’t be greater than the ·honor given to [glory of] Judah [^Cthe defenseless countryside would be saved before the fortified city, showing the victory was due to the Lord]. ⁸ ·At that time [^LOn 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 [^LOn 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 [^Lthe 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 [^Lmourn/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 [^LOn that day] there will be much crying in Jerusalem, like the crying for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo [^Ceither 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 [^Lthe 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 [^Ca 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.