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Easy-to-Read Version

Zechariah 12:3

But I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock—those who try to take it will hurt themselves. They will be cut and scratched. All the nations on earth will come together to fight against Jerusalem.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Scofield Reference Index - Day (of Jehovah);   The Topic Concordance - Gathering;   Israel/jews;   Jerusalem;   Nations;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Jerusalem;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Stones;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Zechariah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Antichrist;   Apocalyptic Literature;   Burden;   Micah, Book of;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Pre-Eminence ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Messi'ah;   Stones;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Burden;   Cut;   Games;   Stone;   Zechariah, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Games and Sports;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who try to lift it will injure themselves severely when all the nations of the earth gather against her.
Hebrew Names Version
It will happen in that day, that I will make Yerushalayim a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the eretz will be gathered together against it.
King James Version (1611)
And in that day will I make Ierusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselues with it, shall be cut in pieces; though all the people of the earth bee gathered together against it.
King James Version
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
English Standard Version
On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.
New American Standard Bible
"It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
New Century Version
One day all the nations on earth will come together to attack Jerusalem, but I will make it like a heavy rock; anyone who tries to move it will get hurt.
Amplified Bible
"And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will come and be gathered against it.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And in that day will I make Ierusalem an heauie stone for all people: all that lift it vp, shall be torne, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
Legacy Standard Bible
But it will be in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who heave it up will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
Berean Standard Bible
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.
Contemporary English Version
But I will turn Jerusalem into a heavy stone that crushes anyone who tries to lift it. When all nations on earth surround Jerusalem,
Complete Jewish Bible
When that day comes, I will make Yerushalayim a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who try to lift it will hurt themselves, and all the earth's nations will be massed against her.
Darby Translation
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.
George Lamsa Translation
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will make Jerusalem a stone for all the people to trample on; all who trample on it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Good News Translation
But when that time comes, I will make Jerusalem like a heavy stone—any nation that tries to lift it will be hurt. All the nations of the world will join forces to attack her.
Lexham English Bible
And then on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weight for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it.
Literal Translation
And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall be slashed. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
American Standard Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
Bible in Basic English
And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of great weight for all the peoples; all those who take it up will be badly wounded; and all the nations of the earth will come together against it.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
At the same time wyll I make Hierusalem an heauy stone for all people, so that al such as lyft it vp shalbe torne and rent, and all the people of the earth shal be gathered together against it.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a trodden stone to all the nations: every one that tramples on it shall utterly mock at it, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
English Revised Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
World English Bible
It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it schal be, in that dai Y schal putte Jerusalem a stoon of birthun to alle puplis; alle that schulen lifte it, schulen be to-drawun with kittyng doun, and alle rewmes of erthe schulen be gaderid ayens it.
Update Bible Version
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be critically wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
Webster's Bible Translation
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be assembled against it.
New English Translation
Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.
New King James Version
And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
New Living Translation
On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.
New Life Bible
On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the people. All who lift it will be hurt. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
New Revised Standard
On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth shall come together against it.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it shall come to pass, in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a lifting-stone, to all the peoples, all who seek to lift her, shall, cut themselves in pieces, - though all the nations of the earth, gather themselves together against her.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all people: all that shall lift it up shall be rent and torn, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall be gathered together against her.
Revised Standard Version
On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will come together against it.
Young's Literal Translation
And it hath come to pass, in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
At the same tyme will I make Ierusalem an heuy stone for all people, so that all soch as lift it vp, shalbe toarne and rete, and all the people of the earth shalbe gathered together agaynst it.
THE MESSAGE
"On the Big Day, I'll turn Jerusalem into a huge stone blocking the way for everyone. All who try to lift it will rupture themselves. All the pagan nations will come together and try to get rid of it.

Contextual Overview

1 This is a message from the Lord about Israel. The Lord is the one who made the earth and the sky, and he put the human spirit in people. And this is what the Lord said: 2 "Look, I will make Jerusalem like a cup of poison to the nations around her. The nations will come and attack that city, and all of Judah will be caught in the trap. 3 But I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock—those who try to take it will hurt themselves. They will be cut and scratched. All the nations on earth will come together to fight against Jerusalem. 4 But at that time I will scare the horse, and the soldier riding it will panic. I will make all the enemy horses blind, but my eyes will be open—and I will be watching over Judah's family. 5 The leaders of Judah will encourage the people and say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful is your God. He makes us strong.' 6 At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning in a forest. They will destroy their enemies like fire burning straw. They will destroy the enemy all around them, and the people in Jerusalem will again be able to sit back and relax." 7 The Lord will save the people of Judah first, so the people in Jerusalem will not be able to brag too much. David's family and the other people who live in Jerusalem will not be able to brag that they are better than the other people in Judah. 8 But the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem. Even the man who trips and falls will become a great soldier like David. And the men from David's family will be like gods—like the Lord 's own angel leading the people.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in that: Zechariah 12:4, Zechariah 12:6, Zechariah 12:8, Zechariah 12:9, Zechariah 12:11, Zechariah 2:8, Zechariah 2:9, Zechariah 10:3-5, Zechariah 13:1, Zechariah 14:2, Zechariah 14:3, Zechariah 14:4, Zechariah 14:6, Zechariah 14:8, Zechariah 14:9, Zechariah 14:13, Isaiah 60:12, Isaiah 66:14-16, Ezekiel 38:1 - Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 3:8-16, Obadiah 1:18, Micah 5:8, Micah 5:15, Micah 7:15-17, Habakkuk 2:17, Zephaniah 3:19, Haggai 2:22

a burdensome: Daniel 2:34, Daniel 2:35, Daniel 2:44, Daniel 2:45, Matthew 21:44, Luke 20:18

though: Zechariah 14:2, Zechariah 14:3, Micah 4:11-13, Revelation 16:14, Revelation 17:12-14, Revelation 19:19-21, Revelation 20:8, Revelation 20:9

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 30:7 - General 1 Samuel 5:8 - What shall 1 Samuel 17:36 - seeing Ezra 7:23 - why should there be wrath Esther 6:13 - If Mordecai Psalms 118:10 - All nations Psalms 129:5 - be confounded Song of Solomon 6:4 - terrible Isaiah 29:7 - the multitude Isaiah 41:11 - all they Isaiah 49:25 - I will contend Isaiah 54:15 - shall fall Jeremiah 50:28 - to declare Jeremiah 51:11 - the vengeance Daniel 3:22 - slew Daniel 11:32 - shall be Daniel 12:1 - thy people Joel 3:2 - will plead Micah 2:13 - they have Micah 4:3 - and rebuke Zephaniah 3:15 - he hath

Cross-References

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed because of him.
Genesis 27:29
May the nations serve you and many people bow down to you. You will rule over your brothers. Your mother's sons will bow down to you and obey you. Whoever curses you will be cursed. Whoever blesses you will be blessed."
Genesis 28:14
You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.
Genesis 30:27
Laban said to him, "Please, let me say something. I know that the Lord has blessed me because of you.
Genesis 30:30
When I came, you had little. Now you have much, much more. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. Now it is time for me to work for myself—it is time to do things for my family."
Genesis 39:5
After Joseph was made the ruler over the house, the Lord blessed the house and everything that Potiphar owned. The Lord also blessed everything that grew in Potiphar's fields. The Lord did this because of Joseph.
Exodus 23:22
If you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to all of your enemies. I will be against everyone who is against you.
Numbers 24:9
Israel is like a lion, curled up and lying down. Yes, they are like a young lion, and no one wants to wake him! Anyone who blesses you will be blessed. And anyone who curses you will have great troubles."
Psalms 72:17
May the king be famous forever. May people remember his name as long as the sun shines. May all nations be blessed through him, and may they all bless him.
Matthew 25:40
"Then the king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people,.... The Targum renders it "a stone of offence"; at which they shall stumble and fall; but it seems to design the immovableness of the state and condition of Jerusalem, that those who attempt to remove her out of her place, or to make any alteration in her happy circumstances, will not be able to do it, Psalms 125:1. Jerom makes mention of a custom in the cities of Palestine, and which continued to his times throughout all Judea, that large, huge, round stones, used to be placed in the towns and villages, which the youths exercised themselves with, by trying to lift them up as high as they could, by which they showed their strength; and the same ancient writer observes that a like custom obtained in Greece; for he says he himself saw in the tower at Athens, by the image of Minerva, a globe of brass, of at very great weight, which he, through the weakness of his body, could not move; and asking the meaning of it, he was told that the strength of wrestlers was tried by it; and no man might be admitted a combatant, until it was known, by the lifting up of that weight, with whom he should be matched; and the throwing of the "discus" was an ancient military exercise, as old as the times of Homer, who speaks z of it; and is mentioned by Latin writers, as appears from some lines of Martial a; see the Apocrypha:

"In like manner also Judas gathered together all those things that were lost by reason of the war we had, and they remain with us,'' (2 Maccabees 2:14)

and this, as it tried the strength of men, so it was sometimes dangerous to themselves, or to bystanders, lest it should fall upon their heads: and as it was usual to defend themselves and oppress enemies by casting stones at them, so young men used to exercise themselves by lifting up and casting large stones; to which Virgil b sometimes refers; and it is well known that Abimelech was killed even by a woman casting a piece of a millstone upon his head, Judges 9:53 and such heavy stones, and the lifting of them up, in order to cast them, may he alluded to here:

all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces; all that attempt to unsettle and remove it shall be pressed down with the weight of it, and be utterly destroyed: or, "shall be torn to pieces" c; as men's hands are cut and torn with rough and heavy stones, The Targum is,

"all that injure her shall be consumed;''

which gives the sense of the passage:

though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it; so safe and secure will the people of God be; he being a wall of fire round about them, and the glory in the midst of them.

z Iliad. 2. 23. a "Splendida cum volitent Spartani pondera disci Este procul pueri sit se nel ille nocens." ---Epigr. l. 14. Ep. 157. b "Certabant Troes contra defendere saxis." ---Aeneid. l. 9. "Mijaculis, illi certent defendere saxis." --Aeneid. l. 10. --Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 5. c. 2. p. 178, 179. Menochium de Republica Hebr. l. 6. col. 555, 556. c שרוט ישרטו "incidendo incidentur", Montanus, Burkius "lacerando lacerabuntur", Pagninus, Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all nations - What is “a stone to all nations?” It is not a rock or anything in its own nature immovable, but a “stone,” a thing rolled up and down, moved, lifted, displaced, piled on others, in every way at the service and command of people, to do with it what they willed. So they thought of that “stone cut out without hands” Daniel 2:45; that “tried stone and sure foundation, laid in Zion” Isaiah 28:16; that “stone” which, God said in Zechariah, “I have laid” Zechariah 3:9; of which our Lord says, “the stone, which the builders rejected, is become the head of the corner” Luke 20:17; “whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” Matthew 21:44; Luke 20:18. The Church, built on the stone, seems a thing easily annihilated; ten persecutions in succession strove to efface it; Diocletian erected a monument, commemorating that the Christian name was blotted out . It survived; he perished.

The image may have been suggested by the custom, so widely prevailing in Judaea, of trying the relative strength of young men, by lifting round stones selected for that end .

Jerome: “The meaning then is, I will place, Jerusalem to all nations like a very heavy stone to be lifted up. They will lift it up, and according to their varied strength, will waste it; but it must needs be, that, while it is lifted, in the very strain of lifting the weight, that most heavy stone should leave some scission or rasure on the bodies of those who lift it. Of the Church it may be interpreted thus; that all persecutors, who fought against the house of the Lord, are inebriated with that cup, which Jeremiah gives to all nations, to drink and be inebriated and fall and vomit and be mad. Whosoever would uplift the stone shall lift it, and in the anger of the Lord, whereby He chastens sinners, will hold it in his hands; but he himself will not go unpunished, the sword of the Lord fighting against him.”

All that burden themselves with it will be cut to pieces - More exactly, “scarified, lacerated;” shall bear the scars. “Though” (rather, “and”) “all the people (peoples, nations) of the earth shall be gathered together against it.” The prophet marshals them all against Jerusalem, only to say how they should perish before it. So in Joel God says, “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat” , speaking of that last closing strife of antichrist against God. Wars against Israel had either been petty, though anti-theistic, wars of neighboring petty nations, pitting their false gods against the True, or one, though world-empire wielded by a single will. The more God made Himself known, the fiercer the opposition. The Gospel claiming “obedience to the faith among all nations” Romans 1:5, provoked universal rebellion. Herod and Pontius Pilate became friends through rejection of Christ; the Roman Caesar and the Persian Sapor, Goths and Vandals, at war with one another, were one in persecuting Christ and the Church. Yet in vain.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 12:3. A burdensome stone — Probably referring to that stone which was thrown on the breast of a culprit adjudged to lose his life by stoning, by which the whole region of the thorax, heart, lungs, liver, &c., was broken to pieces.


 
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