Zechariah 14
English Standard Version Anglicised
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. 2 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. 3 (G)Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 (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 northwards, and the other half southwards. 5 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.
6 (N)On that day (O)there shall be (P)no light, cold, or frost.[a] 7 (Q)And there shall be a unique[b] day, (R)which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but (S)at evening time there shall be light.
8 (T)On that day (U)living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to (V)the eastern sea[c] and half of them to (W)the western sea.[d] (X)It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 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 wine presses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for (AK)there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction.[e] (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. 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;[f] 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[g] in the house of the Lord of hosts (BH)on that day.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 14:6 Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Zechariah 14:7 Hebrew one
- Zechariah 14:8 That is, the Dead Sea
- Zechariah 14:8 That is, the Mediterranean Sea
- 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
- Zechariah 14:18 Hebrew lacks rain
- Zechariah 14:21 Or Canaanite
Zechariah 14
The Message
The Day Is Coming
14 1-2 Note well: God’s Judgment Day is on the way:
“Plunder will be piled high and handed out.
I’m bringing all the godless nations
to war against Jerusalem—
Houses plundered,
women raped,
Half the city taken into exile,
the other half left behind.”
3-5 But then God will march out against the godless nations and fight—a great war! That’s the Day he’ll take his stand on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives will be split right down the middle, from east to west, leaving a wide valley. Half the mountain will shift north, the other half south. Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You’ll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him.
6-7 What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God’s—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning.
8 What a Day that will be! Fresh flowing rivers out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea, flowing year-round, summer and winter!
9 God will be king over all the earth, one God and only one. What a Day that will be!
* * *
10-11 The land will stretch out spaciously around Jerusalem—to Geba in the north and Rimmon in the south, with Jerusalem towering at the center, and the commanding city gates—Gate of Benjamin to First Gate to Corner Gate to Hananel Tower to the Royal Winery—ringing the city full of people. Never again will Jerusalem be totally destroyed. From now on it will be a safe city.
12-14 But this is what will happen to all who fought against Jerusalem: God will visit them with a terrible plague. People’s flesh will rot off their bones while they are walking around; their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues in their mouths; people will be dying on their feet! Mass hysteria when that happens—total panic! Fellow soldiers fighting and killing each other—holy terror! And then Judah will jump into the fray!
14-15 Treasures from all the nations will be piled high—gold, silver, the latest fashions. The plague will also hit the animals—horses, mules, camels, donkeys. Everything alive in the military camps will be hit by the plague.
* * *
16-19 All the survivors from the godless nations that fought against Jerusalem will travel to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, and celebrate the Feast of Booths. If any of these survivors fail to make the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, there will be no rain. If the Egyptians don’t make the pilgrimage and worship, there will be no rain for them. Every nation that does not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths will be hit with the plague. Egypt and any other nation that does not make pilgrimage to celebrate the Feast of Booths gets punished.
20-21 On that Day, the Big Day, all the horses’ harness bells will be inscribed “Holy to God.” The cooking pots in the Temple of God will be as sacred as chalices and plates on the altar. In fact, all the pots and pans in all the kitchens of Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. People who come to worship, preparing meals and sacrifices, will use them. On that Big Day there will be no buying or selling in the Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson