The Repentance of Judah

12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord—he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person1—says, 12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem2 a cup that brings dizziness3 to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden4 for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured;5 yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses6 of the nations7 with blindness. 12:5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.’ 12:6 On that day8 I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter9 among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem. 12:7 The Lord also will deliver the homes10 of Judah first, so that the splendor of the kingship11 of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not exceed that of Judah. 12:8 On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.12 12:9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations13 that come against Jerusalem.”

12:10 “I will pour out on the kingship14 of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me,15 the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.16 12:11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon17 in the plain of Megiddo.18 12:12 The land will mourn, clan by clan—the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan19 by itself and their wives by themselves; 12:13 the clan of the descendants of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites20 by itself and their wives by themselves—12:14 all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.”