Zechariah 14
Good News Translation
Jerusalem and the Nations
14 The day when the Lord will sit in judgment is near. Then Jerusalem will be looted, and the loot will be divided up before your eyes. 2 The Lord will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people will go into exile, but the rest of them will not be taken away from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward. 5 You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two.[a] You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.
6 When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost,[b] 7 nor any darkness. There will always be daylight, even at nighttime. When this will happen is known only to the Lord.
8 (A)When that day comes, fresh water will flow from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean. It will flow all year long, in the dry season as well as the wet. 9 Then the Lord will be king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name.
10 The whole region, from Geba in the north to Rimmon in the south, will be made level. Jerusalem will tower above the land around it; the city will reach from the Benjamin Gate to the Corner Gate, where there had been an earlier gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal wine presses. 11 (B)The people will live there in safety, no longer threatened by destruction.
12 The Lord will bring a terrible disease on all the nations that make war on Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still alive; their eyes and their tongues will rot away.
13 At that time the Lord will make them so confused and afraid that everyone will seize the man next to him and attack him. 14 The men of Judah will fight to defend Jerusalem. They will take as loot the wealth of all the nations—gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.
15 A terrible disease will also fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, and the donkeys—on all the animals in the camps of the enemy.
16 (C)Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the Lord Almighty as king and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 If any nation refuses to go and worship the Lord Almighty as king, then rain will not fall on their land. 18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, then they will be struck by the same disease that the Lord will send on every nation that refuses to go. 19 This will be the punishment that will fall on Egypt and on all the other nations if they do not celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
20 At that time even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with the words “Dedicated to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Temple will be as sacred as the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in all Judah will be set apart for use in the worship of the Lord Almighty. The people who offer sacrifices will use them for boiling the meat of the sacrifices. When that time comes, there will no longer be any merchant in the Temple of the Lord Almighty.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 14:5 Probable text You will escape … in two; Hebrew unclear.
- Zechariah 14:6 Probable text cold or frost; Hebrew unclear.
Zechariah 14
Expanded Bible
The Day of Punishment
14 The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord; Zeph. 1:7] is coming when ·the wealth you have taken [your plunder] will be divided ·among you [in your midst; or right in front of you; while you watch].
2 I will bring all the nations together to ·fight [wage war against] Jerusalem. They will capture the city and ·rob [plunder; loot] the houses and ·attack [rape] the women. Half the people will be taken away ·as captives [into exile], but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go to war against those nations; he will fight as in a day of battle. 4 On that day ·he [L his feet] will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will split in two, forming a deep valley that runs east and west. Half the mountain will move toward the north, and half will move toward the south. 5 You will ·run [flee] through this mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel [C unknown location east of Jerusalem]. You will run just as you did from the earthquake when Uzziah was king of Judah [Amos 1:1]. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones [C either angels or believers; Matt. 25:31; 1 Thess. 3:13; Jude 14; Rev. 19:14] with him.
6 On that day there will be no light, ·cold, or frost [or the sources of lights will diminish]. 7 There will be no other day like it, ·and the Lord knows when it will come [L a day known to the Lord]. There will be no day or night; even at evening it will still be light.
8 At that time ·fresh [bubbling; or living; life-giving] water will flow from Jerusalem. Half of it will flow east to the ·Dead [L eastern] Sea, and half will flow west to the ·Mediterranean [L western] Sea. It will flow summer and winter.
9 Then the Lord will be king over the whole world. ·At that time [L On that day] ·there will be only one Lord [L the Lord will be one; Deut. 6:4–5], and his name ·will be the only name [L one].
10 All the land south of Jerusalem from Geba [C six miles northeast of Jerusalem, the northern boundary of Judah] to ·Rimmon [C thirty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem] will be ·turned into a plain [or like the Arabah; C the Jordan Valley, from Mount Hermon to the Gulf of Aqaba]. Jerusalem will be raised up, but it will stay in the same place. The city will reach from the Benjamin Gate and to the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 People will live there, and it will never be destroyed again. Jerusalem will ·be safe [dwell in security].
12 But the Lord will bring a terrible ·disease [plague] on the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still standing up. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 ·At that time [L On that day] the Lord will cause panic. Everybody will grab ·his [L the hand of his] neighbor, and they will ·attack each other [L raise his hand against the hand of his neighbor]. 14 ·The people of Judah [L Judah] will fight in Jerusalem. And the wealth of the nations around them will be collected—much gold, silver, and clothes. 15 A similar ·disease [plague] will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals in the camps.
16 All of those left alive of the ·people [nations] who came to fight Jerusalem will come back to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], and to celebrate the Feast of ·Shelters [Booths; Tabernacles; Deut. 31:9–13]. 17 Anyone from the nations who does not go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], will not have rain fall on his land. 18 If the Egyptians do not go to Jerusalem, they will not have rain. Then the Lord will send them the same ·terrible disease [plague] he sent the other nations that did not celebrate the Feast of ·Shelters [Booths; Tabernacles]. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt and any nation that does not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.
20 ·At that time [L On that day] the horses’ bells will have written on them: holy to the lord. The cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be like the holy altar bowls. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], and everyone who offers sacrifices will be able to take food from them and cook in them. ·At that time [L On that day] there will not be any ·buyers or sellers [or Canaanite] in the Temple of the Lord [Matt. 21:12–13; John 2:13–16] ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.