✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Zechariah 14

KJV · Chapter 14/14

1Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

3Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

4And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

5And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

6And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

7But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

8And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

10All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.

11And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The book closes with an apocalyptic vision of the 'Day of the Lord': Jerusalem will be attacked, but the Lord will intervene personally, His feet touching the Mount of Olives, which will be split in two; in the end, all nations will worship the King in Jerusalem.

Explanation

This final chapter functions as a cosmic climax to the entire book, combining battle, direct divine intervention, and a definitive geographic and spiritual transformation. The description of the Mount of Olives splitting in half when the Lord's feet touch down on it is one of the most literally dramatic images in all of biblical prophecy, creating a valley of escape for the survivors. The promise that 'the Lord shall be king over all the earth,' and that living waters will flow from Jerusalem toward both the eastern sea and the western sea, describes a total renewal of the world's geography and spiritual authority. The chapter closes with the striking insistence that even the most common household items in Jerusalem and Judah will be 'HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD,' showing that holiness will no longer be confined to special religious objects but will permeate all of everyday life. The application for today: the ultimate biblical hope is not merely to escape the world, but to see all of creation and all nations recognize and worship God.

Fun facts

  • The Mount of Olives, specifically mentioned in this chapter, is the same location from which, according to Acts 1:11-12, Jesus ascended into heaven and to which the angels said He would return — creating a direct geographic link between this prophecy and the Christian hope of the second coming.
  • The 'Feast of Tabernacles' (or Booths), mentioned as a celebration that all nations would be required to keep, was originally an Israelite festival commemorating God's protection during the forty years in the wilderness — its extension to all nations symbolizes the universal inclusion of every people in the worship of God.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Zechariah 14:1The book's final chapter opens announcing the 'day of the Lord,' when Jerusalem's spoil would be divided in the midst of the besieged city itself.
  2. Zechariah 14:2The scene of the final war against Jerusalem — houses plundered, part of the population led into captivity — describes a brutal siege before the divine intervention the chapter announces next.
  3. Zechariah 14:3After the city falls partially, the Lord Himself steps into action, fighting against the invading nations as He had done before in historic battles.
  4. Zechariah 14:4The Mount of Olives splitting in half is an apocalyptic image of God's direct geographic intervention; this same mountain appears much later in the Gospel accounts as a significant place, though that does not imply a direct link between the two texts.
  5. Zechariah 14:5The people flee through a valley opened by the earthquake, a scene compared to a real earthquake from the days of King Uzziah — and God arrives accompanied by all His holy ones.
  6. Zechariah 14:6On that extraordinary day, there would be neither clear light nor total darkness — a day outside the normal pattern, hard to describe in ordinary terms.
  7. Zechariah 14:7Only the Lord Himself knows exactly how that day will unfold: neither an ordinary day nor night, with light appearing even at evening time, when it would normally grow dark.
  8. Zechariah 14:8'Living waters' flowing out of Jerusalem in two directions is an image of restoration much like paradise, a land that would enjoy abundant water all year round.
  9. Zechariah 14:9'There shall be one Lord, and his name one' is the book's most direct statement about God's oneness being recognized by the whole earth.
  10. Zechariah 14:10The geography around Jerusalem becomes a single plain, while the city itself is lifted up and remains inhabited in its exact place, its gates and towers clearly identified.
  11. Zechariah 14:11Jerusalem will finally live in safety, no longer under the threat of the total destruction ('utter destruction') that hung over her so many times in history.
  12. Zechariah 14:12The plague striking Jerusalem's enemies is described graphically: their flesh rotting away while they are still standing — an image of severe, visible judgment.
  13. Zechariah 14:13In the midst of the chaos, God causes such great confusion among the enemies themselves that they end up attacking one another without realizing it.
  14. Zechariah 14:14Even Judah gets drawn into this wartime confusion, but the final outcome is the accumulation of wealth from all the nations — gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance — on the winning side.
  15. Zechariah 14:15The same plague that strikes the enemy soldiers also strikes their war animals — horses, mules, camels, donkeys — nothing in the army escapes.
  16. Zechariah 14:16The 'feast of tabernacles' was an Israelite agricultural harvest celebration; the vision of survivors from every nation going up year after year to celebrate it in Jerusalem broadens this local feast to a universal scale.
  17. Zechariah 14:17After the victory, a new rule takes effect: any nation that does not go up to Jerusalem every year to worship the King will be left without rain.
  18. Zechariah 14:18Egypt, which normally does not depend on rain for its agriculture (it uses the waters of the Nile), would receive an equivalent plague if it also failed to take part in the celebration.
  19. Zechariah 14:19This refusal to go up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of tabernacles is described as the specific sin that would bring punishment on both Egypt and any other nation.
  20. Zechariah 14:20Even the most ordinary details of daily life, like the bells on the horses, would come to bear the inscription 'HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD,' showing that holiness would reach all of life, not just the temple.
  21. Zechariah 14:21The book ends with an image of total holiness: even the cooking pots in Jerusalem and Judah would be fit for sacred use, and no unclean trader would ever again operate in the house of the Lord.

Chapters

1234567891011121314

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play