The Coming Deliverance of Jerusalem 1 UDB This is a message from Yahweh concerning Israel—Yahweh, the one who stretched out the sky, who created the earth, and who gave life to human beings. This is what he says: BSB BSB: This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
2 UDB "I will soon cause Jerusalem to be like a cup full of very strong alcoholic drink, and the people of other nations who drink it will stagger around. The people of Judah will drink it, too, for they also will suffer when the enemy besieges Jerusalem. BSB BSB: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
3 UDB At that time, the armies of all the peoples will gather to attack Jerusalem, but I will cause Jerusalem to be like a very heavy rock, and all who try to lift it will be badly injured. This will happen when the armies of all the world's nations attack Jerusalem. BSB BSB: On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
4 UDB At that time I will cause every one of their enemies' horses to panic, and their riders to become crazy. I will protect the people of Judah, but I will cause all their enemies' horses to become blind. BSB BSB: On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.
5 UDB Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, 'The people in Jerusalem encourage us because Yahweh, the Commander of the angel armies, is the one they worship.' BSB BSB: Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: ‘The people of Jerusalem are my strength, for the LORD of Hosts is their God.’
6 UDB At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a pot of fire that someone puts in piles of firewood; and like a burning torch in a field of ripe grain. The leaders of Judah and their soldiers will destroy the peoples surrounding them in all directions. But the people of Jerusalem will remain safe in their own city." BSB BSB: On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.
7 UDB Yahweh will protect those who live in the other places in Judah before he rescues the people of Jerusalem, in order that people will not honor the descendants of David and those in Jerusalem more than the people in all the rest of Judah. BSB BSB: The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah.
8 UDB At that time, Yahweh will protect everyone in Jerusalem. The weakest soldiers among them will be as strong as David was, and the descendants of David will be like God; they will lead the others like the angel of Yahweh himself. BSB BSB: On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them.
9 UDB "At that time, I will start to destroy all the armies that attack Jerusalem." BSB BSB: So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Mourning the One They Pierced (John 19:31–37)
10 UDB "I, Yahweh, will cause the descendants of David to have mercy on others, and to beg me to have mercy on themselves. They will gaze at me, whom they pierced." They will cry bitterly, as people cry for a firstborn son, an only son, who has died. BSB BSB: Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
11 UDB At that time, many people in Jerusalem will be crying bitterly, as people cry at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. BSB BSB: On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12 UDB Many people in Judah will cry, each clan by themselves. The male descendants of David will mourn by themselves, and their wives will mourn by themselves; the male descendants of Nathan will mourn by themselves, and their wives will mourn by themselves. BSB BSB: The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,
13 UDB The male descendants of Levi will mourn by themselves, and their wives will mourn by themselves; the male descendants of Shimei will mourn by themselves, and their wives will mourn by themselves. BSB BSB: the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives,
14 UDB All the clans will mourn separately, their males by themselves, and their wives by themselves." BSB BSB: and all the remaining clans and their wives.