Zechariah 14

1 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.

Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.

2 [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.

For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

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

Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

4 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.

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.

5 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].

You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from 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 At that time, there will be no light [from the sun]; it will not become cold and there will be no frost.

On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost.

7 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.

It will be a day known only to the LORD, without day or night; but when evening comes, there will be light.

8 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).

And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike.

9 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.

On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.

10 [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].

All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.

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

People will live there, and never again will there be an utter destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell securely.

12 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.

And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

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

On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.

14 [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.

Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance.

15 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).

And a similar plague will strike the horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

16 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.

Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

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

And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

18 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.

And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then the rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

19 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.

This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

20 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.

On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the sprinkling bowls before the altar.

21 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.

Indeed, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take some pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Hosts.