Zechariah

Zechariah

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius,

the word of YHWH came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah,

son of Iddo, saying:

“YHWH was very angry with your ancestors.

Therefore say to them,

‘Thus declares YHWH of Hosts:

Return to Me, and I will return to you,’ says YHWH of Hosts.

Do not be like your ancestors,

to whom the former prophets cried out,

‘Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’

But they did not hear or pay attention to Me,” declares YHWH.

“Your ancestors—where are they?

And the prophets—do they live forever?

But My words and My statutes,

which I commanded My servants the prophets,

did they not overtake your ancestors?”

So they repented and said,

“As YHWH of Hosts purposed to deal with us

for our ways and deeds, so He has dealt with us.”

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month,

which is the month of Shebat,

in the second year of Darius,

the word of YHWH came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo.

“I saw in the night, and behold,

a man riding on a red horse!

He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen,

and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.”

Then I said, “What are these, my lord?”

The messenger who talked with me said,

“I will show you what they are.”

So the man who was standing among the myrtles answered,

“These are those whom YHWH has sent

to patrol the earth.”

And they answered,

“We have patrolled the earth,

and behold, all the earth remains at rest.”

Then the messenger of YHWH said,

“O YHWH of Hosts,

how long will You have no mercy on Jerusalem

and the cities of Judah,

against which You have been angry these seventy years?”

And YHWH answered the messenger

with comforting words.

So the messenger said to me,

“Proclaim: Thus says YHWH of Hosts,

‘I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.

And I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;

while I was only a little angry, they added to the calamity.

Therefore, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion;

My house shall be built in it,’ declares YHWH of Hosts,

‘and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.’”

“Proclaim again, ‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

My cities shall again overflow with prosperity,

and YHWH will again comfort Zion

and again choose Jerusalem.’”

Then I lifted my eyes and saw—four horns!

And I said to the messenger who talked with me,

“What are these?”

He said,

“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

Then YHWH showed me four craftsmen.

And I said, “What are these coming to do?”

He said,

“These are the horns that scattered Judah,

so that no one raised his head.

And these craftsmen have come

to terrify them,

to cast down the horns of the nations

who lifted up their horn

against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

———

And I lifted my eyes and saw—

a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Then I said, “Where are you going?”

And he said to me,

“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

And behold, the messenger who talked with me went forward,

and another messenger came to meet him and said,

“Run, say to that young man:

‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls,

because of the multitude of people and livestock in it.

And I will be to her a wall of fire all around,’ declares YHWH,

‘and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

“Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares YHWH.

“For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven,”

declares YHWH.

“Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon!”

For thus said YHWH of Hosts:

“After His glory sent Me to the nations who plundered you,

for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye—

behold, I will shake My hand over them,

and they shall become plunder for their own servants.

Then you will know that YHWH of Hosts has sent Me.”

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion,

for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst,” declares YHWH.

“And many nations shall join themselves to YHWH in that day,

and shall be My people.

And I will dwell in your midst,

and you shall know that YHWH of Hosts has sent Me to you.

And YHWH will inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land,

and will again choose Jerusalem.”

Be silent, all flesh, before YHWH,

for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

———

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest

standing before the messenger of YHWH,

and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

And YHWH said to Satan,

“YHWH rebuke you, O Satan!

YHWH who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!

Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

Now Joshua was standing before the messenger,

clothed with filthy garments.

And the messenger said to those standing before him,

“Remove the filthy garments from him.”

And to him he said,

“Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you,

and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.”

So they put a clean turban on his head

and clothed him with garments.

And the messenger of YHWH was standing by.

And the messenger of YHWH solemnly assured Joshua,

“Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

If you will walk in My ways

and keep My charge,

then you shall rule My house

and have charge of My courts,

and I will give you the right of access

among those who are standing here.”

“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest,

you and your companions who sit before you,

for they are men who are a sign:

Behold, I will bring My Servant, the Branch.

For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua,

on a single stone with seven eyes,

I will engrave its inscription,” declares YHWH of Hosts,

“and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.

In that day, each of you will invite his neighbor

to come under his vine and under his fig tree,”

declares YHWH of Hosts.

———

And the messenger who talked with me came again and woke me,

like someone awakened out of sleep.

And he said to me, “What do you see?”

I said, “I see, and behold,

a lampstand all of gold,

with a bowl on the top of it,

and seven lamps on it,

with seven lips on each of the lamps.

And there are two olive trees by it,

one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

And I said to the messenger,

“What are these, my lord?”

Then the messenger said to me,

“Do you not know what these are?”

I said, “No, my lord.”

Then he said to me:

“This is the word of YHWH to Zerubbabel:

Not by might, nor by power,

but by My Spirit,” says YHWH of Hosts.

“Who are you, O great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.

And he shall bring forth the top stone

with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

Then the word of YHWH came to me:

**“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house;

his hands shall also complete it.

Then you will know that YHWH of Hosts has sent Me to you.

For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice,

and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”**

“These seven are the eyes of YHWH,

which range through the whole earth.”

Then I said to him,

“What are these two olive trees

on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

And I said again,

“What are these two branches of the olive trees,

which pour out golden oil through the two golden pipes?”

He said to me,

“Do you not know what these are?”

I said, “No, my lord.”

Then he said,

“These are the two anointed ones

who stand by the Lord of all the earth.”

———

Again I lifted my eyes and saw—

a flying scroll!

And he said to me,

“What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a flying scroll.

Its length is twenty cubits,

and its width ten cubits.”

Then he said to me,

“This is the curse that goes out

over the face of the whole land.

For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out

according to what is on one side,

and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out

according to what is on the other side.

I will send it out,” declares YHWH of Hosts,

“and it shall enter the house of the thief

and the house of him who swears falsely by My name,

and it shall remain in his house and consume it,

both timber and stones.”

Then the messenger who talked with me came forward and said,

“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.”

And I said, “What is it?”

He said,

“This is the basket that is going out.”

And he said,

“This is their iniquity in all the land.”

And behold, the lead cover was lifted,

and there was a woman sitting in the basket!

And he said,

“This is Wickedness.”

And he thrust her back into the basket,

and pushed down the leaden lid on its mouth.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw—

two women coming forward!

The wind was in their wings.

They had wings like the wings of a stork,

and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.

Then I said to the messenger,

“Where are they taking the basket?”

He said to me,

“To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it.

And when this is prepared,

they will set the basket down there on its base.”

———

Again I lifted my eyes and saw—

four chariots coming out from between two mountains.

And the mountains were mountains of bronze.

The first chariot had red horses,

the second black horses,

the third white horses,

and the fourth dappled horses—all strong.

Then I said to the messenger,

“What are these, my lord?”

And he said,

“These are the four winds of heaven,

going out after presenting themselves

before the Sovereign of all the earth.

The black horses go toward the north country,

the white go after them,

and the dappled go toward the south country.”

When the strong horses came out,

they were impatient to go and patrol the earth.

And He said,

“Go, patrol the earth.”

So they patrolled the earth.

Then He cried to me,

“Behold, those who go toward the north country

have set My Spirit at rest there.”

And the word of YHWH came to me:

“Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah,

who have arrived from Babylon,

and go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown,

and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

And say to him,

‘Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

Behold, the man whose name is the Branch:

for He shall branch out from His place,

and He shall build the temple of YHWH.

It is He who shall build the temple of YHWH

and shall bear royal honor,

and shall sit and rule on His throne.

And there shall be a priest on His throne,

and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.’”

And the crown shall be in the temple of YHWH

as a memorial to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah.

And those who are far off shall come

and help to build the temple of YHWH.

And you shall know that YHWH of Hosts has sent me to you.

And this shall come to pass,

if you will diligently obey the voice of YHWH your God.

———

In the fourth year of King Darius,

the word of YHWH came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month,

which is Chislev.

Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men

to entreat the favor of YHWH,

asking the priests of the house of YHWH of Hosts and the prophets,

“Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month,

as I have done for so many years?”

Then the word of YHWH came to me:

“Say to all the people of the land and the priests,

‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh,

for seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

And when you eat and when you drink,

do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?’

Were not these the words that YHWH proclaimed

through the former prophets,

when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous,

with her towns around her,

and the Negev and the lowland were settled?”

And the word of YHWH came to Zechariah:

“Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

Render true justice,

show covenant love and mercy to one another,

do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, or the poor,

and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”

But they refused to pay attention

and turned a stubborn shoulder

and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

They made their hearts like flint

so they could not hear the Torah

and the words that YHWH of Hosts had sent by His Spirit

through the former prophets.

Therefore great wrath came from YHWH of Hosts.

“As I called, and they would not hear,

so they called, and I would not hear,” says YHWH of Hosts,

“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations

that they had not known.

Thus the land they left was desolate,

so that no one went to and fro,

and the pleasant land was made a desolation.”

———

And the word of YHWH of Hosts came, saying:

“Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

I am zealous for Zion with great jealousy,

and I am zealous for her with great wrath.

Thus says YHWH:

I have returned to Zion

and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem,

and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,

and the mountain of YHWH of Hosts, the Holy Mountain.”

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

Old men and old women shall again sit

in the streets of Jerusalem,

each with staff in hand because of great age.

And the streets of the city

shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“If it seems too marvelous in the sight

of the remnant of this people in those days,

should it also seem marvelous in My sight?”

declares YHWH of Hosts.

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“Behold, I will save My people

from the east country and from the west country,

and I will bring them to dwell in Jerusalem.

They shall be My people,

and I will be their God,

in faithfulness and righteousness.”

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

Let your hands be strong,

you who in these days hear these words

from the mouth of the prophets

who were present when the foundation of the house of YHWH of Hosts was laid.

For before those days

there was no wage for people or beast,

and no safety from the foe for those who went out or came in,

for I set every one against his neighbor.

But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people

as in the former days,

declares YHWH of Hosts.

For there shall be a sowing of peace.

The vine shall give its fruit,

and the ground shall give its produce,

and the heavens shall give their dew.

And I will cause the remnant of this people

to possess all these things.

And as you have been a curse among the nations,

O house of Judah and house of Israel,

so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.

Fear not, but let your hands be strong.

For thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“As I purposed to bring disaster to you

when your ancestors provoked Me to wrath,

and I did not relent,”

says YHWH of Hosts,

“so again I have purposed in these days

to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

Fear not.”

These are the things that you shall do:

Speak the truth to one another;

render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace;

do not devise evil in your hearts against one another,

and love no false oath—

for all these things I hate, declares YHWH.

And the word of YHWH of Hosts came to me, saying:

“Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

The fast of the fourth month

and the fast of the fifth

and the fast of the seventh

and the fast of the tenth

shall be to the house of Judah

seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.

Therefore love truth and peace.”

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“Peoples shall yet come,

even the inhabitants of many cities.

The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,

‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of YHWH

and to seek YHWH of Hosts; I myself am going.’

Many peoples and strong nations shall come

to seek YHWH of Hosts in Jerusalem

and to entreat His favor.”

Thus says YHWH of Hosts:

“In those days ten people from the nations of every language

shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying,

‘Let us go with you,

for we have heard that God is with you.’”

———

The oracle of the word of YHWH is against the land of Hadrach

and rests upon Damascus—

for the eyes of humanity and all the tribes of Israel are toward YHWH—

and also against Hamath, which borders on it,

Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

Tyre has built herself a stronghold

and heaped up silver like dust,

and gold like the mud of the streets.

But behold, the Sovereign will strip her of her possessions

and strike down her power on the sea,

and she shall be consumed by fire.

Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid;

Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;

Ekron also, because its hope has withered.

The king shall perish from Gaza;

Ashkelon shall be uninhabited.

A mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod,

and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

I will take away its blood from its mouth,

and its abominations from between its teeth.

It too shall be a remnant for our God;

it shall be like a clan in Judah,

and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.

Then I will encamp at My house as a guard,

so that none shall march to and fro;

no oppressor shall again overrun them,

for now I see with My own eyes.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is He,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and He shall speak peace to the nations.

His rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As for you also,

because of the blood of My covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

For I have bent Judah as My bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.

I will stir up your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, O Greece,

and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

Then YHWH will appear over them,

and His arrow will go forth like lightning;

the Sovereign YHWH will sound the trumpet

and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

YHWH of Hosts will protect them,

and they shall devour and trample the sling stones;

they shall drink and roar as if with wine

and be full like a bowl,

drenched like the corners of the altar.

On that day YHWH their God will save them

as the flock of His people;

for like the jewels of a crown

they shall shine on His land.

For how great is His goodness,

and how great His beauty!

Grain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

———

Ask rain from YHWH

in the season of the spring rain,

from YHWH who makes the storm clouds,

and He will give them showers of rain,

to everyone vegetation in the field.

For the household gods utter nonsense,

and the diviners see lies;

they tell false dreams and give empty comfort.

Therefore the people wander like sheep;

they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

“My anger is hot against the shepherds,

and I will punish the leaders.

For YHWH of Hosts cares for His flock, the house of Judah,

and will make them like His majestic steed in battle.”

From him shall come the cornerstone,

from him the tent peg,

from him the battle bow,

from him every ruler—all of them together.

They shall be like mighty men in battle,

trampling the enemy in the mud of the streets;

they shall fight because YHWH is with them,

and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.

“I will strengthen the house of Judah,

and I will save the house of Joseph.

I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,

and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,

for I am YHWH their God and I will answer them.”

Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior,

and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.

Their children shall see it and be glad;

their hearts shall rejoice in YHWH.

“I will whistle for them and gather them in,

for I have redeemed them,

and they shall be as many as they were before.

Though I scattered them among the nations,

yet in far countries they shall remember Me,

and with their children they shall live and return.

I will bring them home from the land of Egypt

and gather them from Assyria,

and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,

till there is no room for them.”

He shall pass through the sea of troubles

and strike down the waves of the sea,

and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up.

The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,

and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.

“I will make them strong in YHWH,

and they shall walk in His name,”

declares YHWH.

———

Open your doors, O Lebanon,

that fire may devour your cedars!

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,

for the glorious trees are ruined!

Wail, oaks of Bashan,

for the thick forest has been felled!

The sound of the wail of the shepherds,

for their glory is ruined!

The sound of the roar of the lions,

for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

Thus said YHWH my God:

“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.

Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished,

and those who sell them say,

‘Blessed be YHWH, I have become rich,’

and their own shepherds have no pity on them.

For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land,”

declares YHWH.

“Behold, I will cause each of them

to fall into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king,

and they shall crush the land,

and I will deliver none from their hand.”

So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered.

And I took two staffs: one I named Favor,

and the other I named Union.

And I tended the sheep.

In one month I destroyed the three shepherds.

But I became impatient with them,

and they also detested me.

So I said,

“I will not be your shepherd.

What is to die, let it die;

what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed;

and let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.”

And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it,

annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

So it was annulled on that day,

and the sheep traders who were watching me

knew it was the word of YHWH.

Then I said to them,

“If it seems good to you, give me my wages;

but if not, keep them.”

And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.

Then YHWH said to me,

“Throw it to the potter”—

the princely price at which they valued Me.

So I took the thirty pieces of silver

and threw them into the house of YHWH, to the potter.

Then I broke my second staff Union,

annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then YHWH said to me,

“Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

For behold, I am raising up in the land

a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed

or seek the young

or heal the maimed

or nourish the healthy,

but devours the flesh of the fat ones,

tearing off even their hooves.”

Woe to the worthless shepherd,

who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!

Let his arm be wholly withered,

his right eye utterly blinded!”

———

The oracle of the word of YHWH concerning Israel:

Thus declares YHWH, who stretched out the heavens

and founded the earth

and formed the spirit of humanity within them:

“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem

a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.

The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.

On that day I will make Jerusalem

a heavy stone for all the peoples.

All who lift it will surely hurt themselves,

and all the nations of the earth

will gather against it.”

On that day, declares YHWH,

I will strike every horse with panic

and its rider with madness.

But for the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open,

when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves,

“The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength

through YHWH of Hosts, their God.”

On that day I will make the clans of Judah

like a blazing pot in the midst of wood,

like a flaming torch among sheaves.

They shall devour to the right and to the left

all the surrounding peoples,

while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place.

YHWH will give salvation to the tents of Judah first,

that the glory of the house of David

and the inhabitants of Jerusalem

may not surpass that of Judah.

On that day YHWH will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

so that the feeblest among them shall be like David,

and the house of David shall be like God,

like the messenger of YHWH going before them.

And on that day I will seek to destroy

all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

———

“On that day there shall be a fountain opened

for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

to cleanse from sin and impurity.”

“And on that day,” declares YHWH of Hosts,

“I will cut off the names of the idols from the land,

so that they shall be remembered no more.

And I will also remove from the land the prophets

and the unclean spirit.

And if anyone again prophesies,

his father and mother who bore him shall say to him,

‘You shall not live,

for you speak lies in the name of YHWH.’

And his father and mother who bore him

shall pierce him through when he prophesies.”

“On that day every prophet will be ashamed

of his vision when he prophesies.

He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive,

but he will say, ‘I am no prophet,

I am a worker of the soil,

for a man sold me in my youth.’

And if one asks him,

‘What are these wounds on your hands?’

he will answer,

‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’”

“Awake, O sword, against My shepherd,

against the man who is close to Me,”

declares YHWH of Hosts.

“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;

I will turn My hand against the little ones.

In the whole land,” declares YHWH,

“two-thirds shall be cut off and perish,

and one-third shall be left alive.

And I will put this third into the fire,

and refine them as one refines silver,

and test them as gold is tested.

They will call upon My name, and I will answer them.

I will say, ‘They are My people’;

and they will say, ‘YHWH is my God.’”

———

Behold, a day is coming for YHWH,

when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.

For I will gather all the nations

against Jerusalem to battle,

and the city shall be taken

and the houses plundered

and the women violated.

Half of the city shall go into exile,

but the rest of the people

shall not be cut off from the city.

Then YHWH will go out and fight against those nations

as when He fights on a day of battle.

On that day His feet shall stand

on the Mount of Olives

that lies before Jerusalem on the east,

and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two

from east to west by a very wide valley,

so that one half of the Mount shall move northward,

and the other half southward.

And you shall flee to the valley of My mountains,

for the valley shall reach to Azal.

And you shall flee as you fled

from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Then YHWH my God will come,

and all the holy ones with Him.

On that day there shall be no light,

nor cold or frost.

And there shall be a unique day,

known to YHWH,

neither day nor night,

but at evening time there shall be light.

On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem,

half of them to the eastern sea

and half of them to the western sea.

It shall continue in summer as in winter.

And YHWH will be king over all the earth.

On that day YHWH will be one

and His name one.

The whole land shall be turned into a plain

from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem.

But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site

from the Gate of Benjamin

to the place of the First Gate,

to the Corner Gate,

and from the Tower of Hananel

to the king’s winepresses.

And it shall be inhabited,

for there shall never again be a decree of destruction—

Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

And this shall be the plague

with which YHWH will strike all the peoples

that wage war against Jerusalem:

their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet,

their eyes will rot in their sockets,

and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

On that day a great panic from YHWH shall fall on them,

so that each will seize the hand of another,

and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other.

Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem.

And the wealth of all the surrounding nations

shall be collected—gold, silver, and garments in great abundance.

And a plague like this shall fall on the horses,

the mules, the camels, the donkeys,

and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

Then everyone who survives

of all the nations that came against Jerusalem

shall go up year after year

to worship the King, YHWH of Hosts,

and to keep the Feast of Booths.

And if any of the families of the earth

do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King,

YHWH of Hosts,

there will be no rain on them.

And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves,

then on them there shall be no rain;

there shall be the plague

with which YHWH afflicts the nations

that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.

This shall be the punishment to Egypt

and the punishment to all the nations

that do not go up to keep the feast.

And on that day

there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses,

“Holy to YHWH.”

And the pots in the house of YHWH

shall be as the bowls before the altar.

And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah

shall be holy to YHWH of Hosts,

so that all who sacrifice may come

and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them.

And there shall no longer be

a merchant in the house of YHWH of Hosts

on that day.