JUDAH’S SECURITY

12 A pronouncement:

The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

A declaration of the Lord,

who stretched out the heavens,c

laid the foundation of the earth,d

and formed the spirit of man within him.

2 “Look, I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggeringe for the peoples who surround the city. The siege against Jerusalem will also involve Judah.f 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 when all the nations of the earth gather against her.g 4 On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness.h I will keep a watchful eye oni the house of Judah but strike all the horses of the nations with blindness. 5 Then each of the leaders of Judah will think to himself: The residents of Jerusalem are my strength through the Lord of Armies, their God. 6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile,j like a flaming torch among sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and the left, while Jerusalem continues to be inhabited on its site, in Jerusalem. 7 The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of David’s house and the glory of Jerusalem’s residents may not be greater than that of Judah.