War and Victory
1 The Lord will have his day. And when it comes, everything that was ever taken from Jerusalem will be returned and divided among its people. 2 But first, he will bring many nations to attack Jerusalem—homes will be robbed, women raped, and half of the population dragged off, though the others will be allowed to remain.
3 The Lord will attack those nations like a warrior fighting in battle. 4 He will take his stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, and the mountain will split in half, forming a wide valley that runs from east to west. 5 Then you people will escape from the Lord's mountain, through this valley, which reaches to Azal. You will run in all directions, just as everyone did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. Afterwards, the Lord my God will appear with his holy angels.
6 It will be a bright day that won't turn cloudy or cold. 7 And the Lord has decided when it will happen—this time of unending day.
8 In both summer and winter, life-giving streams will flow from Jerusalem, half of them to the Dead Sea in the east and half to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 9 Then there will be only one Lord who rules as King and whose name is worshiped everywhere on earth.
10-11 From Geba down to Rimmon south of Jerusalem, the entire country will be turned into flatlands, with Jerusalem still towering above. Then the city will be full of people, from Benjamin Gate, Old Gate Place, and Hananel Tower in the northeast part of the city over to Corner Gate in the northwest and down to King's Wine Press in the south. Jerusalem will always be secure and will never again be destroyed.
12 Here is what the Lord will do to those who attack Jerusalem: While they are standing there, he will make their flesh rot and their eyes fall from their sockets and their tongues drop out. 13 The Lord will make them go into a frenzy and start attacking each other, 14-15 until even the people of Judah turn against those in Jerusalem. This same terrible disaster will also strike every animal nearby, including horses, mules, camels, and donkeys. Finally, everything of value in the surrounding nations will be collected and brought to Jerusalem—gold, silver, and piles of clothing.
16 Afterwards, the survivors from those nations that attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the King, the Lord All-Powerful, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 No rain will fall on the land of anyone in any country who refuses to go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord All-Powerful. 18-19 This horrible disaster will strike the Egyptians and everyone else who refuses to go there for the celebration.
20-21 At that time the words “Dedicated to the Lord” will be engraved on the bells worn by horses. In fact, every ordinary cooking pot in Jerusalem will be just as sacred to the Lord All-Powerful as the bowls used at the altar. Any one of them will be acceptable for boiling the meat of sacrificed animals, and there will no longer be a need to sell special pots and bowls.
Jerusalem and the Nations
1 The day when the Lord will sit in judgment is near. Then Jerusalem will be looted, and the loot will be divided up before your eyes. 2 The Lord will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people will go into exile, but the rest of them will not be taken away from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward. 5 You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two. You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.
6 When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost, 7 nor any darkness. There will always be daylight, even at nighttime. When this will happen is known only to the Lord.
8 When that day comes, fresh water will flow from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean. It will flow all year long, in the dry season as well as the wet. 9 Then the Lord will be king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name.
10 The whole region, from Geba in the north to Rimmon in the south, will be made level. Jerusalem will tower above the land around it; the city will reach from the Benjamin Gate to the Corner Gate, where there had been an earlier gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal wine presses. 11 The people will live there in safety, no longer threatened by destruction.
12 The Lord will bring a terrible disease on all the nations that make war on Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still alive; their eyes and their tongues will rot away.
13 At that time the Lord will make them so confused and afraid that everyone will seize the man next to him and attack him. 14 The men of Judah will fight to defend Jerusalem. They will take as loot the wealth of all the nations—gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.
15 A terrible disease will also fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, and the donkeys—on all the animals in the camps of the enemy.
16 Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the Lord Almighty as king and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 If any nation refuses to go and worship the Lord Almighty as king, then rain will not fall on their land. 18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, then they will be struck by the same disease that the Lord will send on every nation that refuses to go. 19 This will be the punishment that will fall on Egypt and on all the other nations if they do not celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
20 At that time even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with the words “Dedicated to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Temple will be as sacred as the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in all Judah will be set apart for use in the worship of the Lord Almighty. The people who offer sacrifices will use them for boiling the meat of the sacrifices. When that time comes, there will no longer be any merchant in the Temple of the Lord Almighty.