Zechariah 14
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 518 BC – 480 BC · Return & rebuilding · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
21 verses · 657 words · ~3 min read · ~4 min listen
The Destroyers of Jerusalem Destroyed
1Behold, a day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. 2For 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.
3Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4On 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. 5You 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.
6On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. 7It will be a unique day known only to the Lord, without day or night; but when evening comes, there will be light.
8And 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. 9On that day the Lord will become King over all the earth—the Lord alone, and His name alone.
10All 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. 11People will live there, and never again will there be an utter destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell securely.
12And 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.
13On 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. 14Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. 15And a similar plague will strike the horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.
All Nations Will Worship the King
16Then 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. 17And 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. 18And 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. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
20On 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. 21Indeed, 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.
Footnotes (6)
- a v5 LXX; Hebrew with You
- b v8 That is, the Dead Sea
- c v8 That is, the Mediterranean Sea, also called the Great Sea
- d v16 That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; also translated as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Shelters and originally called the Feast of Ingathering (see Exodus 23:16and Exodus 34:22).
- e v20 That is, the LORD
- f v21 Or merchant
Study notes on this chapter · 3
Rivers of living water
At the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus cries out that whoever believes in him will have rivers of living water flowing from within, 'as Scripture has said'. No verse says exactly this, and John explains it as the Spirit to be given after Jesus was glorified. Which passage he has in mind is disputed, as is whose heart the water flows from.
When: Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles, c. AD 29; the Feast itself recalled water from the rock and looked to the Lord's day in Zechariah 14.
Ways people read this (4)
- Ezekiel 47:1-12 and Zechariah 14:8: the river flowing from the temple.
- Isaiah 55:1 and 58:11: the thirsty invited to water, and a well-watered garden.
- Water from the rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6; Psalm 78:16), which Paul also links to Christ.
- The punctuation and grammar can be read so the water flows from Jesus himself or from the believer; manuscripts and translations differ.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The day the LORD comes and his feet stand on the Mount of Olives
Zechariah 14 describes the nations gathering against Jerusalem, the LORD going out to fight, his feet standing on the Mount of Olives which splits in two, living water flowing from Jerusalem, and all the survivors of the nations going up yearly to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. It is one of the most debated chapters in the Bible.
When: Zechariah 9–14 (c. 520–480 BC or later); proposed fulfillments range from the second temple period to the age to come.
Ways people read this (4)
- Literal events surrounding Christ's return to the Mount of Olives (premillennial, citing Acts 1:11-12).
- A symbolic picture of the victory of God and the new age, fulfilled in part at Christ's coming and completely at the end.
- An account of the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the church's rescue (preterist).
- An ancient apocalyptic description of the fall and restoration of Jerusalem, without a historical referent.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The thousand years
Revelation 20 describes Satan bound for a thousand years, the martyrs living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years, and a release of Satan before a final judgment. Christians have long disagreed about when and how it is fulfilled. This is the only passage that mentions a thousand-year reign.
When: Revelation, c. AD 90s.
Ways people read this (4)
- Premillennial: Christ returns before a literal or long earthly reign, which precedes the final judgment (historic and dispensational forms).
- Amillennial: the thousand years is symbolic of the present age, in which Christ reigns in heaven and the church on earth, and Satan is restrained (Augustine, many Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed traditions).
- Postmillennial: the gospel will transform the world over a long period, after which Christ returns.
- Views also differ on what the 'first resurrection' is.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.