English
The prophet Zechariah relates the prophecy of God to the people of Jerusalem: <b>Behold! A day</b> that is dear to the Lord <b>is coming,</b> and, on that day, all <b>your riches</b> that your enemies have taken from you over the years will be returned and divided among all those <b>in your midst.</b> However, before this will happen, <b>I will gather all the nations</b> to Jerusalem <b>to wage war. The city will be captured, the houses robbed, and the women</b> violated; <b>half the city will</b> be forced to <b>go into exile</b> while the rest of the Jewish people of Jerusalem will be allowed to stay and <b>will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight those nations, just as on the day</b> He fought the Egyptians, on <b>the day of the battle</b> at the Sea of Reeds. On that day, God's <b>feet will</b> figuratively <b>stand on the Mount of Olives,</b> which faces Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives <b>will split along the middle from the east toward the west</b> so that there <b>will be a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. And you will flee through this valley between the mountains, for the valley of the mountains reaches</b> the city of <b>Azal. You shall flee just as you fled</b> because of the earthquake, <b>during the days of Uzziah, King of Judah. And the Lord, my God, will come,</b> as well as all the <b>holy</b> angels, <b>to be with you. On that day there will be</b> confusion; the Jewish Nation will not know whether their salvation or their destruction is coming, just as when there is <b>no bright light,</b> on the one hand, and no <b>thick, congealing darkness</b> on the other hand. This will <b>be one unique day for the Lord,</b> when His great wonders will be known to the entire world. When it will be <b>neither day nor night—</b>neither a time that is wholly bad for the Jewish Nation nor a time that is wholly good. And, as the world starts to darken like the evening—when the Jewish Nation will be forced into exile—the Lord will go out and fight the nations and bring light to the world. <b>On that day</b> that the Mount of Olives will split, <b>a spring of living waters will come forth from Jerusalem. Half</b> will flow <b>to the eastern sea and half</b> will flow <b>to the western sea;</b> it will <b>flow in the summer and</b> will not freeze up <b>in the winter. On that day, the Lord shall be</b> known as <b>King over the entire earth, and on that day, the Lord will be</b> recognized as the <b>One</b> and only God over all, and <b>His name</b> will be the only <b>one</b> to be mentioned. The hills of the <b>entire earth will</b> flatten and <b>turn into a plain,</b> starting from the hill of Rimmon in the south of Jerusalem followed by the rest of the earth. However, Jerusalem will not be flattened; it will thus be elevated higher than all other places on earth. It will return to its old location—from the <b>gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate—</b>and then its territory will be expanded <b>until the corner gate and from the tower of Hananel until the king's wine-cellars.</b> The Jewish Nation <b>will dwell</b> within Jerusalem, the city will be rebuilt and there will be no more destruction; rather, the Jewish Nation <b>will dwell in Jerusalem securely. And this will be the plague with which the Lord will afflict all nations who besieged Jerusalem:</b> all of <b>their flesh will dissolve while they still stand on their feet, their eyes will dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. On that day,</b> the Lord will cause there to be <b>a great confusion</b> upon the nations. <b>Each one will hold the hand of the other</b> in an effort to help them, but it will be mistakenly understood as a sign of war and, instead, one nation <b>will raise its hand</b> in battle <b>against the hand of its fellow. The remnants of the people of Judah will also fight</b> the enemy in <b>Jerusalem.</b> After the battle, the great abundance of wealth of all the surrounding nations <b>will be gathered—the gold, silver, and</b> valuable <b>garments. Similarly, there will be a plague upon the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals that will be in those enemy camps, just like this plague</b> that afflicted the enemy. <b>It will be that all those who remain from the other nations who came to</b> wage war against <b>Jerusalem—</b>because they changed their minds and turned their hearts to God—<b>will go up annually</b> to prostrate themselves before the <b>King</b> of the universe, <b>the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot. However, if any</b> of the nations of the earth <b>will not go up</b> to Jerusalem to prostrate themselves before the King of the universe, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord will cause that rain will not fall upon their land in that year and their crops