Zechariah 14 - Malachi 1

New International Version

The Lord Comes and Reigns

14 A day of the Lord^(A) is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions^(B) will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.

² I will gather all the nations^(C) to Jerusalem to fight against it;^(D) the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.^(E) Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.^{(F) 3} Then the Lord will go out and fight^(G) against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.^{(H) 4} On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,^(I) east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split^(J) in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake^[a](K) in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come,^(L) and all the holy ones with him.^(M)

⁶ On that day there will be neither sunlight^(N) nor cold, frosty darkness. ⁷ It will be a unique^(O) day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night.^(P) When evening comes, there will be light.^(Q)

⁸ On that day living water^(R) will flow^(S) out from Jerusalem, half of it east^(T) to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.^(U)

⁹ The Lord will be king^(V) over the whole earth.^(W) On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.^(X)

¹⁰ The whole land, from Geba^(Y) to Rimmon,^(Z) south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up^(AA) high from the Benjamin Gate^(AB) to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate,^(AC) and from the Tower of Hananel^(AD) to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place.^{(AE) 11} It will be inhabited;^(AF) never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.^(AG)

¹² This is the plague with which the Lord will strike^(AH) all the nations that fought 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.^{(AI) 13} On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic.^(AJ) They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.^{(AK) 14} Judah^(AL) too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected^(AM)—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. ¹⁵ A similar plague^(AN) will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

¹⁶ Then the survivors^(AO) from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship^(AP) the King,^(AQ) the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.^{(AR) 17} If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship^(AS) the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.^{(AT) 18} If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord^[b] will bring on them the plague^(AU) he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.^{(AV) 19} This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.^(AW)

²⁰ On that day holy to the Lord^(AX) will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots^(AY) in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls^(AZ) in front of the altar. ²¹ Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy^(BA) to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day^(BB) there will no longer be a Canaanite^[c](BC) in the house^(BD) of the Lord Almighty.^(BE)

1 A prophecy:^(BF) The word^(BG) of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.^[d]

Israel Doubts God’s Love

² “I have loved^(BH) you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask,^(BI) ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,^{(BJ) 3} but Esau I have hated,^(BK) and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland^(BL) and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.^(BM)”

⁴ Edom^(BN) may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild^(BO) the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.^(BP) They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.^{(BQ) 5} You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great^(BR) is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’^(BS)

Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices

⁶ “A son honors his father,^(BT) and a slave his master.^(BU) If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect^(BV) due me?” says the Lord Almighty.^(BW)

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask,^(BX) ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷ “By offering defiled food^(BY) on my altar.

“But you ask,^(BZ) ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table^(CA) is contemptible. ⁸ When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals,^(CB) is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased^(CC) with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.^(CD)

⁹ “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings^(CE) from your hands, will he accept^(CF) you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

¹⁰ “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,^(CG) so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased^(CH) with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept^(CI) no offering^(CJ) from your hands. ¹¹ My name will be great^(CK) among the nations,^(CL) from where the sun rises to where it sets.^(CM) In every place incense^(CN) and pure offerings^(CO) will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹² “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table^(CP) is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food^(CQ) is contemptible.’ ¹³ And you say, ‘What a burden!’^(CR) and you sniff at it contemptuously,^(CS)” says the Lord Almighty.

“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices,^(CT) should I accept them from your hands?”^(CU) says the Lord. ¹⁴ “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal^(CV) to the Lord. For I am a great king,^(CW)” says the Lord Almighty,^(CX) “and my name is to be feared^(CY) among the nations.^(CZ)