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Victory for Jerusalem

12 This is a message from the Lord about Israel:

I am the Lord! I stretched out the heavens; I put the earth on its foundations and gave breath to humans. I have decided that Jerusalem will become a bowl of wine that makes the neighboring nations drunk. And when Jerusalem is attacked, Judah will also be attacked.[a] But I will turn Jerusalem into a heavy stone that crushes anyone who tries to lift it.

When all nations on earth surround Jerusalem, I will blind every horse and make them panic, and every rider will be confused. But at the same time, I will watch over Judah. Then every clan in Judah will realize that I, the Lord All-Powerful, am their God, and that I am the source of their strength.

At that time I will let the clans of Judah be like a ball of fire in a wood pile or a fiery torch in a hay stack. Then Judah will send the surrounding nations up in smoke. And once again the city of Jerusalem will be filled with people.

But I will first give victory to Judah, so the kingdom of David and the city of Jerusalem in all of their glory won't be thought of more highly than Judah itself. I, the Lord God, will protect Jerusalem. Even the weakest person there will be as strong as David, and David's kingdom will rule as though my very own angel were its leader. I am determined to wipe out every nation that attacks Jerusalem.

Mourning for the One Pierced with a Spear

10 (A) I, the Lord, will make the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem feel deep sorrow and pray when they see the one they pierced with a spear. They will mourn and weep for him, as parents weep over the death of their only child or their first-born. 11 On that day the people of Jerusalem will mourn as much as everyone did for Hadad Rimmon[b] on the flatlands near Megiddo. 12 Everyone of each family in the land will mourn, and the men will mourn separately from the women. This includes those from the family of David, and the families of Nathan, 13 Levi, Shimei,[c] 14 and all other families as well.

Getting Rid of Idols and False Prophets

13 In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.

The Lord All-Powerful says:

When that time comes, I will get rid of every idol in the country, and they will be forgotten forever. I will also do away with their prophets and those evil spirits that control them. If any such prophets ever appear again, their own parents must warn them that they will die for telling lies in my name—the name of the Lord. If those prophets don't stop speaking, their parents must then kill them with a sword.

Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions, and they won't deceive anyone by dressing like a true prophet. Instead, they will say, “I'm no prophet. I've been a farmer all my life.”[d]

And if any of them are asked why they are wounded,[e] they will answer, “It happened at the house of some friends.”

A Wounded Shepherd and Scattered Sheep

(B) The Lord All-Powerful said:

My sword, wake up! Attack
    my shepherd and friend.
Strike down the shepherd!
Scatter the little sheep,
    and I will destroy them.
Nowhere in the land
will more than a third of them
    be left alive.
Then I will purify them
    and put them to the test,
just as gold and silver
    are purified and tested.
They will pray in my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, “You are my people,”
and they will reply,
    “You, Lord, are our God!”

Footnotes

  1. 12.2 Judah … attacked: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 12.11 Hadad Rimmon: Not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament.
  3. 12.13 Shimei: A descendant of Gershon son of Levi (see Numbers 3.18).
  4. 13.5 I've … my life: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 13.6 wounded: Probably from slashing themselves in the worship of a false god (see 1 Kings 18.28).

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