God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Enemies

14 Behold, a ^(A)day is coming for the Lord when ^(B)the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will ^(C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the ^(D)houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and ^(E)fight against those nations, as ^[a]when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day His feet will ^(F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be ^(G)split ^[b]in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. ⁵ And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the ^(H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. ^(I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with ^[c]Him!

⁶ On that day there will be ^(J)no light; the ^[d]luminaries will die out. ⁷ For it will be ^(K)a unique day which is ^(L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the ^(M)time of evening there will be light.

⁸ And on that day ^(N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord will be ^(O)King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only ^(P)one, and His name the only one.

¹⁰ All the land will change into a plain from ^(Q)Geba to ^(R)Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but ^[e]Jerusalem will ^(S)rise and ^(T)remain on its site from ^(U)Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the ^(V)Corner Gate, and from the ^(W)Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ¹¹ People will live in it, and there will ^(X)no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will ^(Y)live in security.

¹² Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will ^(Z)rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. ¹³ And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the Lord will ^[f]fall on them; and they will ^(AA)seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will ^[g]be raised against the hand of another. ^14 (AB)Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the ^(AC)wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ And just like this ^(AD)plague, there will be a plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

¹⁶ Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will ^(AE)go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the ^(AF)Feast of Booths. ¹⁷ And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the ^(AG)King, the Lord of armies, there will be ^(AH)no rain on them. ¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the ^(AI)plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be the ^[h]punishment of Egypt, and the ^[i]punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

²⁰ On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “^(AJ)Holy to the Lord.” And the ^(AK)cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. ²¹ Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be ^(AL)holy to the Lord of armies; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a ^[j](AM)Canaanite in the house of the Lord of armies on that day.

A Prayer for Mercy

The Temporal and Eternal

5 For we know that if our ^[a](A)earthly ^(B)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house ^(C)not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For indeed, in this tent we ^(D)groan, longing to be ^(E)clothed with our ^[b]dwelling from heaven, ³ since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For indeed, we who are in this tent ^(F)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be ^(G)clothed, so that what is ^(H)mortal will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who ^(I)gave us the Spirit as a ^[c]pledge.

⁶ Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that ^(J)while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for ^(K)we walk by faith, not by ^[d]sight— ⁸ but we are of good courage and ^(L)prefer rather to be absent from the body and ^(M)to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be ^(N)pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before ^(O)the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for ^[e]his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

¹¹ Therefore, knowing the ^(P)fear of the Lord, we persuade people, but we are well known to God; and I hope that we are also ^(Q)well known in your consciences. ¹² We are not commending ourselves to you ^(R)again, but are giving you an ^(S)opportunity to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. ¹³ For if we have ^(T)lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ ^(U)controls us, having concluded this, that ^(V)one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer ^(W)live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.

¹⁶ Therefore from now on we recognize no one ^[f](X)by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is ^(Y)in Christ, this person is ^(Z)a new ^[g]creation; ^(AA)the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ Now ^(AB)all these things are from God, ^(AC)who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ^(AD)ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that ^(AE)God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, ^(AF)not counting their wrongdoings against them, and ^[h]He has ^[i]committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Therefore, we are ^(AG)ambassadors for Christ, ^(AH)as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be ^(AI)reconciled to God. ²¹ He made Him who ^(AJ)knew no sin to be ^[j](AK)sin in our behalf, so that we might become the ^(AL)righteousness of God in Him.