Zechariah 14King James Version
The day of the Lord comes. The Mount of Olives splits in half. Living waters flow out of Jerusalem. The Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. Even the bells of the horses shall have HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD engraved on them. The book ends with the whole world made holy.
The final chapter moves to the last day: Jerusalem besieged, half the city taken into captivity, and then the LORD himself standing on the Mount of Olives, which splits in two to form an escape route. The world is transformed: living waters flow from Jerusalem year-round, the LORD becomes king over all the earth, the land flattens around the city, and Jerusalem is lifted up in permanent safety. Every survivor nation will come annually to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles or face drought. Even the horses' bells and cooking pots will be inscribed 'Holiness unto the LORD.'
History ends not with human achievement but with God's feet on the ground, his name the only name, and ordinary objects made holy.
"And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one." (14:9) This is the theological summit of the entire book: the Shema (hear, O Israel, the LORD is one) is vindicated globally and finally, not just confessed by Israel but acknowledged by every nation on earth.
Jerusalem is overrun. Half the population is in chains. And then the earth moves. The Mount of Olives, where the city looks east toward the desert, tears apart north and south, creating a valley wide enough for the whole population to run through. The LORD arrives with his army. The light stops following the sun. Water runs east and west simultaneously without regard for season. Every surviving nation files into Jerusalem once a year for a harvest festival that now belongs to the whole world. A cook in the city picks up a pot to boil meat for the sacrifice and notices the inscription: holy to the LORD.
God himself is the central figure, arriving physically on the Mount of Olives with all the saints. The nations that fought against Jerusalem become the nations that must make annual pilgrimage to worship. Egypt and all other nations are held to account by the same standard: come to Tabernacles or face drought and plague. The Canaanite, symbol of commercial exploitation of sacred space, is removed from the temple courts entirely.
Zechariah 14 is among the most densely cited chapters in Revelation. The Mount of Olives splitting, living waters flowing east and west, universal kingship, and the Feast of Tabernacles as the eschatological festival all reappear in John's vision. The detail that at evening time there will be light reverses the Genesis pattern (evening and morning) into something beyond ordinary time. The inscription on horses' bells echoes the high priest's turban inscription from Exodus 28:36, suggesting all creation becomes priestly.
The chapter begins in catastrophe and ends in absolute peace. The contrast between the ravaged city of verse 2 and the pot inscribed 'Holiness unto the LORD' in verse 20 spans the entire range of human experience. The final tone is quiet, permanent, and certain.
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.