The Lord Will Give Salvation

12 ^(A)The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, ^(B)who stretched out the heavens and ^(C)founded the earth and ^(D)formed the spirit of man within him: ² “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem ^(E)a cup of staggering to ^(F)all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem ^(G)will also be against Judah. ^3 (H)On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. ^(I)All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And ^(J)all the nations of the earth will gather against it. ^4 (K)On that day, declares the Lord, ^(L)I will strike every horse ^(M)with panic, and its rider ^(N)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 ^(O)with blindness. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

^6 (P)“On that day I will make the clans of Judah ^(Q)like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And ^(R)they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while ^(S)Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

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. ^8 (T)On that day ^(U)the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that ^(V)the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, ^(W)like the angel of the Lord, going before them. ^9 (X)And on that day ^(Y)I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

¹⁰ “And ^(Z)I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and ^(AA)pleas for mercy, so that, ^(AB)when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, ^(AC)they shall mourn for him, ^(AD)as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. ^11 (AE)On that day ^(AF)the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great ^(AG)as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land shall mourn, ^(AH)each family^[a] by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of ^(AI)Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of ^(AJ)the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of ^(B)Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, as I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^(F)shame. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, ^(H)and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

⁴ As soon as I heard these words I ^(I)sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the ^(J)God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, ^(K)the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^6 (L)let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, ^(M)confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even ^(N)I and my father's house have sinned. ^7 (O)We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules ^(P)that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, ^(Q)I will scatter you among the peoples, ^9 (R)but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, ^(S)though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them ^(T)to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ^10 (U)They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, ^(V)let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was ^(W)cupbearer to the king.