The Prophet Zechariah

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 12 -

The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel. The Lord, stretching forth the heavens and founding the earth and forming the spirit of man within him, says:

Behold, I will set Jerusalem as a lintel of the effects of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, yet even Judah will be in the blockade against Jerusalem.(a)

(b)

And this shall be: In that day, I will set Jerusalem as a burdensome stone to every people. All who will lift it up will be torn to pieces. And all the kingdoms of the earth will be gathered together against her.

In that day, says the Lord, I will strike every horse with stupor and his rider with madness. And I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and I will strike every horse of the people with blindness.

And the governors of Judah will say in their heart, “Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem be strengthened for me, in the Lord of hosts, their God.”

In that day, I will set the governors of Judah like a flaming furnace among wood, and like a flaming torch among hay. And they will devour, to the right and to the left, all the surrounding peoples. And Jerusalem will be inhabited again, in her own place, in Jerusalem.(c)

And the Lord will save the tabernacles of Judah, just as in the beginning, so that the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not glorify themselves boastfully against Judah.

In that day, the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and even he who will have offended from them, in that day, will be like David, and the house of David will be like that of God, just like an angel of the Lord in their sight.(d)

And this shall be in that day: I will seek to crush all the Gentiles that come against Jerusalem.(e)

Mourning the One They Pierced

(John 19:31–37)

And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers. And they will look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will feel sorrow over him, as one would be sorrowful at the death of a firstborn.(f)

In that day, there will be a great lamentation in Jerusalem, like the lamentation of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.(g)

And the earth will mourn: families and families separately; the families of the house of David separately, and their women separately;

the families of the house of Nathan separately, and their women separately; the families of the house of Levi separately, and their women separately; the families of Shimei separately, and their women separately;(h)

all the rest of the families, families and families separately, and their women separately.

Footnotes

(a)12:2 The word ‘crapulæ’ refers to drunkenness and its effects, especially the ‘hangover.’(Conte)

(b)12:2 A lintel of surfeiting:That is, a door into which they shall seek to enter, to glut themselves with blood; but they shall stumble, and fall like men stupefied with wine. It seems to allude to the times of Antiochus, and to the victories of the Machabees.(Challoner)

(c)12:6 The first ‘Jerusalem’ refers to the group of people symbolically called ‘Jerusalem.’ The second use of the word refers to the actual city of Jerusalem.(Conte)

(d)12:8 The phrase ‘he who will have offended from them’ refers to Christians or Catholics who are not very faithful, who have committed offenses, and even those who have offended themselves away from the community of believers. Even those unfaithful Christians and unfaithful Catholics will be held in esteem: not because of their offenses, but because they know the faith at least to some extent and because they are repentant on that day, the Day of Repentance.(Conte)

(e)12:9 The Gentiles, in this context, are the unbelievers, those who live mere secular lives devoid of prayer and worship. Some of these will react badly to the Day of Repentance.(Conte)

(f)12:10 This passage refers to the Day of Repentance. Grace and a spirit of prayerfulness will be poured out on that day. And those who are closest to God will feel sorrow, more so at the sufferings of Christ than at their own sins. But many of the wicked will turn away from God, even more so.(Conte)

(g)12:11 Adadremmon:A place near Mageddon, where the good king Josias was slain, and much lamented by his people.(Challoner)

(h)12:13 The women mourn separately because men and women are intended by God to have different roles, behaviors, and clothing: men and women are given separate places in the human family. On this day, this teaching will become clear to many, even if they do not realize it in words. The separateness is a separateness from society, since, on that day, there will be a silence from the noise of modern society. The separateness is also between different religions and denominations, for, at first, many people will seek refuge in their own religion. Later, Protestants will come to realize that they should unite with the Catholic Church. The separateness is a separateness of families that have been separated by distance, or by conflict. The separateness is an aloneness with God on that day for all who are truly devoted to God. Such is the Day of Repentance.(Conte)