Zechariah 12–13

The Future Deliverance of Jerusalem

12This is a message about Israel from the Lord, the Lord who spread out the skies, created the earth, and gave life to man. He says, ²“I will make Jerusalem like a cup of wine; the nations round her will drink and stagger like drunken men. And when they besiege Jerusalem, the cities of the rest of Judah will also be besieged. ³But when that time comes, I will make Jerusalem like a heavy stone—any nation that tries to lift it will be hurt. All the nations of the world will join forces to attack her. ⁴At that time I will terrify all their horses and make all their riders go mad. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will make the horses of their enemies blind. ⁵Then the clans of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The Lord God Almighty gives strength to his people who live in Jerusalem.’

⁶“At that time I will make the clans of Judah like a fire in a forest or in a field of ripe corn—they will destroy all the surrounding nations. The people of Jerusalem will remain safe in the city.

⁷“I, the Lord, will give victory to the armies of Judah first, so that the honour which the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem will receive will be no greater than that of the rest of Judah. ⁸At that time the Lord will protect those who live in Jerusalem, and even the weakest among them will become as strong as David was. The descendants of David will lead them like the angel of the Lord, like God himself. ⁹At that time I will destroy every nation that tries to attack Jerusalem.

^10*“I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their firstborn son. ^11*At that time the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon^r in the plain of Megiddo. ^12–14*Each family in the land will mourn by itself: the family descended from David, the family descended from Nathan, the family descended from Levi, the family descended from Shimei, and all the other families. Each family will mourn by itself, and the men of each family will mourn separately from the women.

13“When that time comes,” says the Lord Almighty, “a fountain will be opened to purify the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem from their sin and idolatry. ²At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them any more. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols. ³Then if anyone still insists on prophesying, his own father and mother will tell him that he must be put to death, because he claimed to speak the Lord’s word, but spoke lies instead. When he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him to death. ⁴When that time comes, no prophet will be proud of his visions, or act like a prophet, or wear a prophet’s coarse garment in order to deceive people. ⁵Instead, he will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer—I have farmed the land all my life.’ ⁶Then if someone asks him, ‘What are those wounds on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘I got them at a friend’s house.’ ”

The Command to Kill God’s Shepherd

^7*The Lord Almighty says, “Wake up, sword, and attack the shepherd^s who works for me! Kill him, and the sheep will be scattered. I will attack my people ⁸and throughout the land two-thirds of the people will die. ⁹And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire. I will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray to me, and I will answer them. I will tell them that they are my people, and they will confess that I am their God.”