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1Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your plunder will be divided within you. 2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5You shall flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel. Yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.

6It will happen in that day that there will not be light, cold, or frost. 7It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh—not day, and not night; but it will come to pass that at evening time there will be light.

8It will happen in that day that living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. It will be so in summer and in winter.

9Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.

10All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.

12This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth. 13It will happen in that day that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will each seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, silver, and clothing, in great abundance.

15A plague like this will fall on the horse, on the mule, on the camel, on the donkey, and on all the animals that will be in those camps.

16It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths. 17It will be that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain. 18If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths.

20In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO YAHWEH”; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.

Overlooking the Salt Sea (Dead Sea, Sea of Arabah, Eastern Sea) from Masada

Overlooking the Salt Sea (Dead Sea, Sea of Arabah, Eastern Sea) from Masada
Zech 14:8
Credit: © 2022 Hershel Wayne House

Overlooking the Salt Sea (Dead Sea, Sea of Arabah, Eastern Sea) from Masada

The photo is taken from the top of Masada, the former fortress of Herod the Great, and today a symbol of the resilience and resolution of the Jewish people in establishing again their ancient homeland and continuing today against attempts to destroy the nation of Israel.

The Salt Sea is the earliest designation of the body of water from the west of Masada (Gen 14:3; Num 34:3, 12; Deut 3:17, Josh 3:16; 12:3), and is also known as the Sea of the Arabah (Deut 3:17; 4:49; Josh 3:16; 2 Kgs 14:25) and the Eastern Sea (Ezek 47:18; Zech 14:8). The name Salt Sea is because of its high level of salt. Sea of the Arabah is due to its situation in the Arabah Valley, the Hebrew word arabah meaning wasteland. The name Eastern Sea comes from its location on the eastern boundary of Israel. The term Dead Sea relates to the fact that nothing living can survive in the sea.[1]

[1] For further discussion of the Dead Sea, consult What is the importance of the Dead Sea in the Bible?