1. The Word of the Lord about Israel: The Lord, Who spread out the heavens, who put the earth in its place, and made the spirit of man within him says this about Israel:
2. "I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup that makes all the people around it seem to be drunk. Judah will be shut in by armies as well as Jerusalem.
3. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the people. All who lift it will be hurt. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
4. On that day," says the Lord, "I will put fear in every horse, and make the horsemen crazy. But I will watch over the people of Judah, while I make every horse of the nations blind.
5. Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The people of Jerusalem are strong because of the Lord of All, their God.'
6. On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a pot of fire among pieces of wood, like fire among cut grain. They will destroy all the people around them, on the right and on the left. And the people of Jerusalem will again live on their own land in Jerusalem.
7. The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the shining-greatness of the family of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah.
8. On that day the Lord will fight for the people of Jerusalem. The one who is weak among them on that day will be like David. And the family of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord leading them.
9. On that day I will destroy every nation that comes against Jerusalem.
10. "I will pour out the Spirit of loving-favor and prayer on the family of David and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look on Him Whose side they cut. They will cry in sorrow for Him, as one cries for an only son. They will cry much over Him, like those who have lost their first-born son.
11. On that day there will be much crying in Jerusalem, like the cries of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12. The land will be filled with sorrow, each family by itself. The families of David and their wives, and the family of Nathan and their wives, will each be filled with sorrow.
13. The family of Levi and their wives will cry in sorrow, and the family of the Shimeites and their wives,
14. and all the families that are left, and their wives.