Zechariah 12:3 (DBY)

Passage

And it shall come to pass in that day [that] I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto all peoples: all that burden themselves with it shall certainly be wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be assembled together against it.

Nearby Context

Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. [Thus] saith Jehovah, who stretcheth out the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:

Zechariah 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of bewilderment unto all the peoples round about, and also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 12:3 And it shall come to pass in that day [that] I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto all peoples: all that burden themselves with it shall certainly be wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be assembled together against it.

Zechariah 12:4 In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; but I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.

Zechariah 12:5 And the leaders of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength through Jehovah of hosts their God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wounded", "shall", "come", "pass", "make", "jerusalem", "burdensome", and "stone". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wounded" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup..." into verse 4's "In that day saith Jehovah I will...", so "wounded" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "wounded" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.