Zechariah 14

1 Lo! a day, cometh, pertaining to Yahweh, —when apportioned shall be thy spoil in thy midst;

Listen! It will soon be the time when Yahweh [will judge everyone]. At that time, the possessions that were taken from you [people of Jerusalem by your enemies will be returned to you, and] will be divided among you.

2 Yea I will gather together all the nations unto Jerusalem, to battle, and the city, shall be captured, and the houses, plundered, and, the women, ravished, —and half of the city, shall go forth, into exile, but, the remainder of the people, shall not be cut off out of the city.

[Before that happens, ] Yahweh will cause [the armies of] many [HYP] nations to attack Jerusalem. They will capture the city and steal all the valuable things from your houses and rape the women. They will take half of the people to other countries, but the other half of the people will be allowed to remain in the city.

3 Then will Yahweh go forth, and fight against those nations, —just as he did in the day when he fought, in the day of battle;

Then Yahweh will go out to fight against those nations; he will fight like [SIM] [soldiers] fight in a battle.

4 Yea his feet, shall stand, in that day, on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives, shall cleave asunder, from the midst thereof, towards the east and towards the west, an exceeding great valley, —and half of the mountain, shall give way, toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

On that day, he will stand on Olive [Tree] Hill, east of Jerusalem. Olive [Tree] Hill will be split into two [parts], with a large valley between the parts. Half of the hill will move toward the north and half [will move] toward the south.

5 Then shall ye flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains, shall reach, very near, Yea, ye shall flee, just as ye fled from before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, —Then, shall arrive, Yahweh my God, All thy holy ones, with thee!

People will flee through that valley which extends to the other side (OR, to Azel), like [SIM] people fled when there was an earthquake during the time that King Uzziah ruled Judah. Then Yahweh my God will come with his holy [angels].

6 And it shall come to pass, in that day, —that there shall be no light, the bright stars, shall be withdrawn;

At that time, there will be no light [from the sun]; it will not become cold and there will be no frost.

7 And it shall be a day by itself, The same, shall be known unto Yahweh—Not day, nor night, —But it shall come to pass, that, at evening time, there shall be light.

There has been no other time like that time, and only Yahweh knows when it will happen. There will be no daytime or nighttime; there will be [light continually], [even] in the evening.

8 And it shall come to pass, in that day, that there shall go forth living waters out of Jerusalem, half of them unto the sea before, and half of them unto the sea behind, in summer and in winter, shall it he.

At that time, running/fresh water will flow from Jerusalem. One stream will flow toward the east to the [Dead] Sea. The other stream will flow toward the west to the [Mediterranean] Sea. The water will flow [all the time], during (summer/the hot season) as well as in (winter/the cold season).

9 So will Yahweh become king over all the earth, —In that day, shall there be one Yahweh, and, his Name, be one.

After that time, Yahweh will be the king [who rules] the entire world. [Everyone will know that] Yahweh, and only Yahweh [MTY], is the true God.

10 All the land shall turn into a plain, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, —and shall lift herself on high and abide in her own place, from the gate of Benjamin up to the place of the first gate, up to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel up to the wine-presses of the king.

[At that time, ] all the land [in Judah] from Geba [town at the north] to Rimmon [town far to] the south of Jerusalem, will become a plain. Jerusalem will remain raised up like it has always been. [It will extend] from the Benjamin Gate and the First Gate [northeast] to the Tower of Hananel, and to the king’s winepresses [to the southwest].

11 So shall men dwell therein, and, utter destruction, shall not be any more, —but Jerusalem, shall abide, in security.

Many people will live there, and the city will never be destroyed again. It will be a safe city.

12 And, this, shall be the plague wherewith Yahweh will plague all the peoples who have made war against Jerusalem, —his flesh, shall be made to rot, while he is standing upon his feet, and, his eyes, shall rot in their sockets, and, his tongue, shall rot in their mouth;

But Yahweh will cause the people in all the nations that attacked Jerusalem to be afflicted by a (plague/severe illness). Their flesh will rot while they are still standing up. Their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 And it shall come to pass, in that day, that there shall be a great confusion from Yahweh among them, —and they will lay hold every one upon the hand of his neighbour, and his hand, will rise up, against the hand of his neighbour;

At that time, Yahweh will cause many people to panic. People will grab and attack each other.

14 Moreover also, Judah, will fight with Jerusalem, —and the wealth of all the nations round about, shall be gathered together, gold and silver and apparel, in great abundance.

[The people who live in other places in] Judah will fight to defend Jerusalem. They will collect the valuable things from the surrounding nations—a lot of gold and silver and clothes.

15 And, so, shall be the plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass, and all the beasts which shall be in those camps, —like this plague!

The same plague [that will afflict the people of other nations] will afflict their horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other work animals in their (camps/places where they have set up their tents).

16 And it shall come to pass, that, as for every one that is left out of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, that they shall come up, from year to year, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the festival of booths.

The people of other nations who [previously] came [to fight] against Jerusalem, all those who are still alive, will return to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, the Commander of the armies of angels, and to celebrate the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.

17 And it shall come to pass that—whoso shall not come up out of the families of the earth unto Jerusalem, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, —there shall not, on them, be any rain.

If there are people in those nations who do not go [to Jerusalem to worship there], rain will not fall on their land.

18 And, if the family of Egypt shall not come up, and shall not enter in, upon whom there falleth none, then shall smite them the plague wherewith Yahweh, did plague, the nations, because they came not up to celebrate the festival of booths.

If the people of Egypt [or any other nation] do not go to Jerusalem, [they will not have any rain]. And Yahweh will cause them to experience the same plague that afflicted the [people of other] nations that did not celebrate the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.

19 This, shall be the punishment of Egypt, —and the punishment of all the nations, when they come not up to celebrate the festival of booths.

That is how [Yahweh] will punish [the people of] Egypt and [the people of] any [other] nation who do not go [to Jerusalem] to celebrate the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.

20 In that day, shall there be [inscribed] upon the bells of the horses, Holy unto Yahweh, —and the caldrons in the house of Yahweh shall be like the dashing bowls before the altar.

At that time, [the words] ‘Dedicated to Yahweh’ will be written on the bells that are fastened to the horses. The [cooking] pots in [the courtyard of the] temple will be [sacred], like the bowls that are near the altar.

21 And every caldron in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holy unto Yahweh of hosts, —So shall all who are offering sacrifice, come in, and take of them, and boil therein, —Neither shall there be a merchant any more in the house of Yahweh of hosts, in that day.

Every pot in Jerusalem and [in other places in] Judah will be dedicated to the Commander of the armies of angels. So everyone who offers sacrifices [there in Jerusalem] will be able to take some of the meat that has been brought for sacrifices, and cook it in their own pots. And at that time, people will no longer buy or sell things in [the courtyard of] the temple of the Commander of the armies of angels.