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Yahweh Will Battle the Nations

14 Behold, a (A)day is coming for Yahweh when (B)the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. Indeed, I will (C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the (D)houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city will go forth in exile, but those left of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Yahweh will go forth and (E)fight against those nations, as the day when He fights on a day of battle. And in 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 in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; indeed, you will flee just as you fled before the (H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. (I)Then Yahweh, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with [a]Him!

And it will be in that day, that there will be (J)no light; the [b]luminaries will dwindle. And it will be (K)a [c]unique day which is (L)known to Yahweh, neither day nor night, but it will be that at (M)evening time there will be light.

And it will be in that day, (N)that 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.

Yahweh Will Be King over All

And Yahweh will be (O)king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only (P)one, and His name one.

10 All the land will be changed into a plain from (Q)Geba to (R)Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but [d]Jerusalem will (S)rise and (T)inhabit 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 And [e]people will inhabit it, and there will (X)no longer be anything devoted to destruction, for Jerusalem will (Y)be inhabited in security.

12 Now this will be the plague with which Yahweh will plague 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 be in that day, that abundant confusion from Yahweh will [f]fall on them; and they will (AA)take hold of one another’s hand, and the hand of one will [g]go up against the hand of another. 14 (AB)And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the (AC)wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15 And in the same way, (AD)the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps will be like this plague.

16 Then it will be that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will (AE)go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, 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, Yahweh of hosts, 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 Yahweh plagues the nations who 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 who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “(AJ)Holy to Yahweh.” And the (AK)pots in the house of Yahweh will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be (AL)holy to Yahweh of hosts; 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 Yahweh of hosts in that day.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 14:5 As in the ancient versions; Heb You
  2. Zechariah 14:6 Lit glorious ones will congeal
  3. Zechariah 14:7 Lit day one, cf. Gen 1:5
  4. Zechariah 14:10 Lit it
  5. Zechariah 14:11 Lit they
  6. Zechariah 14:13 Lit be among
  7. Zechariah 14:13 Lit rise up
  8. Zechariah 14:19 Lit sin
  9. Zechariah 14:19 Lit sin
  10. Zechariah 14:21 Or merchant

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