1Det følgende er et budskab til Israel fra Herren, som udspændte himlen, lagde jordens fundament og gav mennesket liv og ånde:2„Engang vil nabolandenes folkeslag angribe Judas land og belejre Jerusalem, men de vil få min vrede at føle, så de bliver helt fortumlede.3Til den tid vil jeg gøre Jerusalem til en tung sten, som de ikke kan løfte. Prøver de på det, kommer de til skade. Alle jordens nationer vil samle sig imod mit folk.4Men da vil jeg gøre alle fjendens heste panikslagne og rytterne vanvittige. Jeg vil stå vagt over mit folk og gøre fjenderne blinde.5Da vil Judas ledere forstå, at Jerusalems indbyggere får deres styrke fra Herren, den almægtige Gud.6Til den tid vil jeg gøre Juda til en ild, der antænder tørt brænde, en fakkel, der sætter neg i brand. Judas folk vil besejre nabolandene, så Jerusalems indbyggere kan få lov at være i fred.7Herren vil først give sejr til hæren fra det judæiske opland, for at Jerusalems indbyggere og Davids slægt ikke skal tro, de er bedre end det øvrige Juda.8Da vil Herren komme Jerusalems indbyggere til hjælp, så den svageste føler sig stærk som kong David, og Davids kongelige slægt skal lede dem med en autoritet, som svarer til Herrens engels, ja, med Guds egen autoritet.9Til den tid vil jeg tilintetgøre alle de folkeslag, som angriber Jerusalem.
Folket omvender sig
10Til den tid vil jeg udgyde nådens og bønnens ånd over Davids kongelige slægt og Jerusalems indbyggere, og de vil få øje på ham, som de har gennemboret. De vil sørge over ham, som man sørger over sin eneste søn, og klage, som man klager over sin førstefødtes død.11Sorgen og klagen i Jerusalem skal være lige så stor som dødsklagen ved Hadad-Rimmon[1] i Megiddodalen. (2.Krøn 35,20)12-14Der skal være landesorg, for hele Israels folk skal synke i knæ af gråd og anger, både kongeslægten, præsteslægterne og menigmand. Alle landets slægter skal sørge, mændene for sig og kvinderne for sig.
1The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: (Es 42,5; Es 48,13; Nah 1,1)2“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. (Es 51,17; Es 51,22; Zak 14,2; Zak 14,14)3On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. (Es 2,11; Zak 12,2; Zak 13,1; Zak 13,4; Zak 14,4; Zak 14,6; Zak 14,8; Matt 21,44; Luk 20,18)4On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. (5.Mos 28,28; Salm 76,6; Zak 12,3)5Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’6“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem. (Jer 5,14; Ob 1,18; Zak 2,4; Zak 9,15; Zak 12,3; Zak 14,10)7“And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.8On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. (1.Sam 29,9; 2.Sam 14,17; 2.Sam 14,20; 2.Sam 19,27; Es 60,22; Zak 9,15; Zak 12,3)9And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zak 12,3; Zak 14,3)
Him Whom They Have Pierced
10“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (Jer 6,26; Jer 31,9; Jer 50,4; Amos 8,10; Joh 19,37; Åb 1,7)11On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. (2.Krøn 35,24; Zak 12,3; Ap G 2,37)12The land shall mourn, each family[1] by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; (2.Sam 5,14; Zak 7,3; Luk 3,31)13the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; (4.Mos 3,18)14and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.