Zakharia 12:3

12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ¹  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ²  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.

Zakharia 14:1-3

The Sovereignty of the Lord

14:1 A day of the Lord ³  is about to come when your possessions ⁴  will be divided as plunder in your midst. 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ⁵  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ⁶ 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ⁷  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ⁸ 

[12:3]  ¹ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

[12:3]  ² sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

[14:1]  ³ sn The eschatological day of the Lord described here (and through v. 8) is considered by many interpreters to refer to the period known as the great tribulation, a seven year time of great suffering by God’s (Jewish) people culminating in the establishing of the millennial reign of the Lord (vv. 9-21). For other OT and NT references to this aspect of the day of the Lord see Amos 9:8-15; Joel 1:15–2:11; Isa 1:24-31; 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 26:16–27:6; 33:13-24; 59:1–60:22; 65:13-25; Jer 30:7-11; 32:36-44; Ezek 20:33-44; Dan 11:40; 12:1; Matt 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-16.

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “your plunder.” Cf. NCV “the wealth you have taken.”

[14:2]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ⁷ sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38–39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).

[14:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).