Zechariah 12

International Children’s Bible

Jerusalem Will Be Saved

12 This message is the word of the Lord to Israel. The Lord stretched out the skies. He laid the foundations of the earth. He put man’s spirit in him. And the Lord says this: ² “I will make Jerusalem like a cup of poison to the nations around her. They will come and attack Jerusalem and Judah. ³ One day all the nations on earth will come together to attack Jerusalem. But I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock. Anyone who tries to move it will get hurt. ⁴ At that time I will scare every horse. And its rider will panic,” says the Lord. “I will watch over Judah. But I will blind all the horses of the enemies. ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong. This is because the Lord of heaven’s armies is their God.’

⁶ “At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning a stack of wood. They will be like a fire burning straw. They will destroy all the people around them left and right. But Jerusalem will remain safe.

⁷ “The Lord will save the people of Judah first. Then the people in Jerusalem, David’s city, won’t have more honor than Judah. ⁸ At that time the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest of them will be strong like David. And the family of David will be like God. They will be like an angel of the Lord leading the people. ⁹ At that time I will go to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

Crying for the One They Stabbed

¹⁰ “I will give David’s family and people in Jerusalem a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look at me, the one they have stabbed. And they will cry like someone crying over the death of an only child. They will be as sad as someone who has lost a firstborn son. ¹¹ At that time there will be much crying in Jerusalem. It will be like the crying for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will cry. Each family will cry alone. The family of David and their wives will cry. The family of Nathan and their wives will cry. ¹³ The family of Levi and their wives will cry. The family of Shimei and their wives will cry. ¹⁴ And all the rest of the families and their wives will cry.