Zechariah 12:2

New King James Version

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Look, I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering for the peoples who surround the city. The siege against Jerusalem will also involve Judah.

Hebrew Names Version
"Behold, I will make Yerushalayim a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Yehudah also will it be in the siege against Yerushalayim.

King James Version (1611)
Behold, I will make Ierusalem a cup of trembling vnto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Iudah and against Ierusalem.

King James Version
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
"Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.

New American Standard Bible
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.

New Century Version
"I will make Jerusalem like a cup of poison to the nations around her. They will come and attack Jerusalem and Judah.

Amplified Bible
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling (staggering) to all the surrounding peoples; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Beholde, I will make Ierusalem a cuppe of poyson vnto all the people round about: and also with Iudah will he be, in ye siege against Ierusalem.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples all around. Now the one in siege against Jerusalem will also be against Judah.

Berean Standard Bible
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version
I have decided that Jerusalem will become a bowl of wine that makes the neighboring nations drunk. And when Jerusalem is attacked, Judah will also be attacked.

Complete Jewish Bible
"I will make Yerushalayim a cup that will stagger the surrounding peoples. Even Y'hudah will be caught up in the siege against Yerushalayim.

Darby Translation
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.

Easy-to-Read Version
"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.

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a fearful place to all the people round about her, also there shall be a siege both against Judah together with Jerusalem.

Good News Translation
"I will make Jerusalem like a cup of wine; the nations around her will drink and stagger like drunks. And when they besiege Jerusalem, the cities of the rest of Judah will also be besieged.

Lexham English Bible
‘Look, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.

Literal Translation
Behold! I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the peoples all around, and it shall also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.

American Standard Version
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Bible in Basic English
See, I will make Jerusalem a cup of shaking fear to all the peoples round about, when Jerusalem is shut in.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Beholde, I wyll make Hierusalem a cuppe of surfet vnto all the people that are rounde about her: yea Iuda him selfe also shalbe in the siege against Hierusalem.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Behold, I will make Jerusalem as trembling door-posts to all the nations round about, and in Judea there shall be a siege against Jerusalem.

English Revised Version
behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

World English Bible
"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y schal putte Jerusalem a lyntel of glotonye to alle puplis in cumpas, but and Juda schal be in `a segyng ayens Jerusalem.

Update Bible Version
look, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about, and on Judah also it shall be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people around, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem.

New English Translation
"I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged.

New Living Translation
I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah.

New Life Bible
"I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup that makes all the people around it seem to be drunk. Judah will be shut in by armies as well as Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard
See, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding peoples; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lo! I am making Jerusalem a bowl of reeling to all the peoples, round about, - Moreover also, on Judah, shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the people round about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against Jerusalem.

Revised Standard Version
"Lo, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, I will make Ierusalem a cuppe of surfet, vnto all the people yt are rounde aboute her: Yee Iuda himself also shalbe in the sege agaynst Ierusalem.

Contextual Overview

¹ The burden [fn] of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: ² "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. ³ 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. ⁴ In that day," says the LORD, "I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. ⁵ And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.' ⁶ In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place--Jerusalem. ⁷ "The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. ⁸ In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a cup: Psalms 75:8, Isaiah 51:17, Isaiah 51:22, Isaiah 51:23, Jeremiah 25:15, Jeremiah 25:17, Jeremiah 49:12, Jeremiah 51:7, Habakkuk 2:16, Revelation 14:10, Revelation 16:19, Revelation 18:6

trembling: or, slumber, Jeremiah 51:57, or, poison, Jeremiah 8:14

when they: etc. or, and also against Judah shall he be, which shall be in siege against Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:14

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 7:21 - a mighty God Deuteronomy 28:52 - General Ezra 6:12 - destroy Esther 6:13 - If Mordecai Isaiah 60:12 - General Jeremiah 2:3 - all that Jeremiah 12:14 - that Jeremiah 30:16 - General Jeremiah 33:9 - fear Jeremiah 50:28 - to declare Jeremiah 51:11 - the vengeance Ezekiel 38:15 - and many Ezekiel 38:17 - whom Daniel 3:22 - slew Habakkuk 2:8 - the violence Haggai 2:22 - overthrow Zechariah 1:20 - four Zechariah 9:13 - bent Zechariah 12:9 - I will Zechariah 14:3 - General Acts 26:14 - hard

Cross-References

Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 12:4
So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 12:6
Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. [fn] And the Canaanites were then in the land.

Genesis 12:8
And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 12:9
So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. [fn]

Genesis 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Genesis 12:14
So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

Genesis 12:16
He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Genesis 12:17
But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

Genesis 12:18
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,.... The Targum renders it,

"a vessel full of inebriating liquor;''

which intoxicates and makes giddy, and causes to tremble, stagger, and fall like a drunken man. The phrase denotes the punishment inflicted by the Lord upon the enemies of his church and people; see

Isaiah 51:22:

when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem; not by Antiochus Epiphanes; nor by Titus Vespasian; nor by Gog and Magog, as Kimchi; but by the antichristian powers, especially the Mahometan nations, the Turks, which shall come against Jerusalem, when the Jews are returned thither, and resettled in their own land; see Ezekiel 38:5. The words should be rendered, "and upon Judah shall it be" y, i.e. the cup of trembling, "in the siege against Jerusalem"; according to the Targum, and the Jewish commentators, the nations of the earth shall bring the men of Judah by force to join with them in the siege of Jerusalem; as, in the times of Antiochus, many of the Jews were drawn in to fight against their brethren; but the meaning is, that not only the wrath of God will come upon the Mahometan nations that shall besiege Jerusalem; but also on those who bear the Christian name, who are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly; and shall join with the Turks in distressing the people of the Jews upon their return to their own land: to besiege Judah, or a country, is not proper and pertinent: Jerusalem, when again in the hands of the Jews, according to this prophecy, only is to be besieged, as it will, by the Turks; and it should be observed, that it never was besieged by Antiochus, and therefore the prophecy can not be applied to his times, as it is by many.

y וגם על יהודה יהיה "et etiam super Jehudah erit", Pagninus, Montanus, Burkius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling - For encouragement, He promises the victory, and at first mentions the attack incidentally. Jerusalem is as a cup or basin, which its enemies take into their hands; a stone, which they put forth their strength to lift; but they themselves reel with the draught of God’s judgments which they would give to others, they are torn by the stone which they would lift to fling. The image of the “cup” is mostly of God’s displeasure, which is given to His own people, and then, His judgment of chastisement being exceeded, given in turn to those who had been the instruments of giving it . Thus, Isaiah speaks of “the cup of trembling.” Thou, “Jerusalem, hast drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, hast wrung them out. Therefore hear thou this, thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine. Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee” Isaiah 51:17, Isaiah 51:21-23. Jeremiah speaks of “the cup of God’s anger,” as given by God first to Jerusalem, then to all whom Nebuchadnezzar should subdue, then to Babylon itself Jeremiah 25:15-26; and as “passing through” to Edom also Lamentations 4:21; Jeremiah 49:12; Ezekiel, of “Aholibah” Ezekiel 23:31-33 (Jerusalem) “drinking the cup of Samaria.” In Jeremiah alone, Babylon is herself the cup. “Babylon” is “a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the nations drunken; the nations have drunken of the wine; therefore the nations are mad” Jeremiah 51:7. Now Jerusalem is to be, not an ordinary cup, but a large “basin” or vessel, from which all nations may drink what will make them reel.

“And also upon Judah will it be in the siege against Jerusalem, that is, the burden of the word of the Lord which was on Israel” should be “upon Judah,” that is, upon all, great and small.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zechariah 12:2. Jerusalem a cup of trembling — The Babylonians, who captivated and ruined the Jews, shall in their turn be ruined.

I incline to think that what is spoken in this chapter about the Jews and Jerusalem, belongs to the "glory of the latter times."

Shall be in the siege — This may refer to some war against the Church of Christ, such as that mentioned Revelation 20:9.