12This is the Lord’s message about Israel. The Lord spread out the heavens. He laid the foundation of the earth. He created the spirits of all men. He says, ²“Jerusalem will be like a cup in my hand. It will make all of the surrounding nations drunk from the wine of my anger. Judah will be attacked by its enemies. So will Jerusalem.

³“At that time all of the nations on earth will gather together against Jerusalem. Then it will become like a rock that can’t be moved. All of the nations that try to move it will only hurt themselves. ⁴On that day I will fill every horse with panic. I will make every rider crazy,” announces the Lord. “I will watch over the people of Judah. But I will make all of the horses of the nations blind.

⁵“Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong. That’s because the Lord who rules over all is their God.’

⁶“At that time Judah’s leaders will be like a fire pot in a pile of wood. They will be like a burning torch among bundles of grain. They will destroy all of the surrounding nations on every side. But Jerusalem will remain unharmed in its place.

⁷“I will save the houses in Judah first. The honor of David’s family line is great. So is the honor of those who live in Jerusalem. But their honor will not be greater than the honor of the rest of Judah.

⁸“At that time I will be like a shield to those who live in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest among them will be great warriors like David. And David’s family line will be like the Angel of the Lord who leads them. ⁹On that day I will begin to destroy all of the nations that attack Jerusalem.

Israel’s People Will Sob Over the One They Pierced

¹⁰“I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on David’s family line. I will also send it on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look to me. I am the one they have pierced. They will sob over me as someone sobs over an only child who has died. They will be full of sorrow over me, just like someone who is full of sorrow over an oldest son.

¹¹“At that time there will be a lot of crying in Jerusalem. It will sound like the sobs of the people at Hadad Rimmon over Josiah’s death in the Valley of Megiddo. ¹²Everyone in the land will sob. Each family will cry by themselves and their wives by themselves. That will include the family lines of David, Nathan, ¹³Levi, Shimei and ¹⁴all of the others.

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