The Coming Day of the Lord

14 Behold, (A)a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For (B)I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and (C)the city shall be taken (D)and the houses plundered (E)and the women raped. (F)Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. (G)Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. (H)On that day his feet shall stand (I)on (J)the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and (K)the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by (L)a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from (M)the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.[a]

(N)On that day (O)there shall be (P)no light, cold, or frost.[b] (Q)And there shall be a unique[c] day, (R)which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but (S)at evening time there shall be light.

(T)On that day (U)living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to (V)the eastern sea[d] and half of them to (W)the western sea.[e] (X)It shall continue in summer as in winter.

And (Y)the Lord will be king over all the earth. (Z)On that day the Lord will be (AA)one and (AB)his name one.

10 (AC)The whole land shall be turned into a plain from (AD)Geba to (AE)Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But (AF)Jerusalem shall remain aloft (AG)on its site from (AH)the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to (AI)the Corner Gate, and from (AJ)the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for (AK)there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction.[f] (AL)Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

12 And this shall be (AM)the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 And (AN)on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that (AO)each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even (AP)Judah will fight at Jerusalem.[g] And (AQ)the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And (AR)a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem (AS)shall go up year after year to worship (AT)the King, the Lord of hosts, and (AU)to keep (AV)the Feast of Booths. 17 And if (AW)any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship (AX)the King, the Lord of hosts, (AY)there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain;[h] there shall be (AZ)the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up (BA)to keep the Feast of Booths. 19 This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up (BB)to keep the Feast of Booths.

20 And (BC)on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, (BD)“Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be (BE)holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And (BF)there shall no longer be (BG)a trader[i] in the house of the Lord of hosts (BH)on that day.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 14:5 Other Hebrew manuscripts you
  2. Zechariah 14:6 Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  3. Zechariah 14:7 Hebrew one
  4. Zechariah 14:8 That is, the Dead Sea
  5. Zechariah 14:8 That is, the Mediterranean Sea
  6. Zechariah 14:11 The Hebrew term rendered decree of utter destruction refers to things devoted (or set apart) to the Lord (or by the Lord) for destruction
  7. Zechariah 14:14 Or against Jerusalem
  8. Zechariah 14:18 Hebrew lacks rain
  9. Zechariah 14:21 Or Canaanite

The Lord Comes to the Mount of Olives

14 “Look! A day is coming for the Lord, when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle. His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming[a] a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south. You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you.”

A Unique Day

“At that time,[b] the daylight will be neither bright nor overcast. It will be a unique day, known only to the Lord—neither daytime nor nighttime—and it will come about at twilight there will be light! At that time,[c] flowing waters will run perennially[d] from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead[e] Sea and half to the Mediterranean[f] Sea. The Lord will be king over all the earth at that time.[g] There[h] will be one Lord, and his name the only one. 10 The entire land will become like the Arabah plain from Geba[i] to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. It will be raised up and inhabited where it is, from the Gate of Benjamin to the First Gate, then to the Corner Gate, to the Hananel Tower, and to the king’s winepresses. 11 People[j] will live there, there will be no more destruction, and Jerusalem will be safely inhabited.”

God’s Judgment on Jerusalem’s Attackers

12 “This will be the plague with which the Lord inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they’re standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths. 13 At that time,[k] they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the Lord. Everyone will attack each other. 14 Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 A similar plague will also strike horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all of the animals in those camps.”

Discipline of the Nations

16 “It will come about that all of the survivors of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come there from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, and to observe the Festival of Tents. 17 If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them. 18 If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem[l] to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow.[m] A plague will come from the Lord to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents.”

Holiness to the Lord

20 “At that time,[n] there will be written on the bells of the horses:

Holiness to the Lord

and the pots in the Temple of the Lord will be like the bowls in front of the altar— 21 every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be consecrated to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. Everyone who offers sacrifices will come, will take them, and will cook in them. Furthermore, at that time,[o] there will no longer be a Canaanite in the Temple of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 14:4 The Heb. lacks forming
  2. Zechariah 14:6 Lit. day
  3. Zechariah 14:8 Lit. day
  4. Zechariah 14:8 Lit. waters in summer and in winter will be
  5. Zechariah 14:8 Lit. eastern
  6. Zechariah 14:8 Lit. western
  7. Zechariah 14:9 Lit. day
  8. Zechariah 14:9 Or earth. At that time, there
  9. Zechariah 14:10 I.e. an ancient city about 6 miles northeast of Jerusalem
  10. Zechariah 14:11 Lit. They
  11. Zechariah 14:13 Lit. day
  12. Zechariah 14:18 The Heb. lacks to Jerusalem
  13. Zechariah 14:18 The Heb. lacks annual Nile overflow
  14. Zechariah 14:20 Lit. day
  15. Zechariah 14:21 Lit. day