הִנֵּה יוֹם־בָּא לַה' וְחֻלַּק שְׁלָלֵךְ בְּקִרְבֵּךְ

Behold, a day of judgment of the Lord is coming, and your spoils will be divided in your midst. Jerusalem will be conquered and its spoils apportioned within the city itself.

וְאָסַפְתִּי אֶת־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלִַם לַמִּלְחָמָה וְנִלְכְּדָה הָעִיר וְנָשַׁסּוּ הַבָּתִּים וְהַנָּשִׁים תִּשָּׁכַבְנָה וְיָצָא חֲצִי הָעִיר בַּגּוֹלָה וְיֶתֶר הָעָם לֹא יִכָּרֵת מִן־הָעִיר

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for the devastating war, and the city will be captured by enemies, the houses plundered, and the women lain with by enemy soldiers who will enter their homes; half of the city will depart into exile, and the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. The enemy will not succeed in exiling all of them.

וְיָצָא ה' וְנִלְחַם בַּגּוֹיִם הָהֵם כְּיוֹם הִלָּחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָב

The Lord will emerge, reveal Himself, and make war against those nations, like the day that He made war on the day of battle, when He came to rescue His people in the past.

וְעָמְדוּ רַגְלָיו בַּיּוֹם־הַהוּא עַל־הַר הַזֵּתִים אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם מִקֶּדֶם וְנִבְקַע הַר הַזֵּיתִים מֵחֶצְיוֹ מִזְרָחָה וָיָמָּה גֵּיא גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד וּמָשׁ חֲצִי הָהָר צָפוֹנָה וְחֶצְיוֹ נֶגְּבָּה

His feet will stand, that is, the wonders of God will be seen, on that day on the Mount of Olives that is before Jerusalem from the east, the range of hills east of Mount Moriah, and the Mount of Olives will split in its midst, due to an earthquake, toward east and toward west. The mountain will split from east to west, so that it will be a very great valley. The gap between the two halves of the mountain will increase over time until it forms a large chasm, and thus half of the mountain will move to the north, and half of it will move to the south. The city of Jerusalem will be split into two.

וְנַסְתֶּם גֵּיא־הָרַי כִּי־יַגִּיעַ גֵּי־הָרִים אֶל אָצַל וְנַסְתֶּם כַּאֲשֶׁר נַסְתֶּם מִפְּנֵי הָרַעַשׁ בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּה מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וּבָא ה' אֱלֹהַי כָל־קְדשִׁים עִמָּךְ

You will flee to the valley of the mountains outside Jerusalem; for the valley of the mountains will reach a place called Atzel; you will flee, just as you fled from the great earthquake which occurred in the days of Uziya king of Judah, an event that remained in the collective memory many years later. In the future there will be another event on a similar scale, and the Lord my God will come; His revelation will be discernible and all will know that God has arrived, and all of His holy ones, the various types of angels in the camp of the Divine Presence, will be with you, Israel or Jerusalem.

וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֹא־יִהְיֶה אוֹר יְקָרוֹת וְקִפָּאוֹן

It shall be on that day, there will not be clear light for people, pleasant or unpleasant. Some explain that there will neither be ordinary light nor even unpleasant light, nor cold and darkness. Rather, the light that will be revealed at that time is one with which we are not currently familiar.

וְהָיָה יוֹם־אֶחָד הוּא יִוָּדַע לַה' לֹא־יוֹם וְלֹא־לָיְלָה וְהָיָה לְעֵת־עֶרֶב יִהְיֶה־אוֹר

There will be one day, the day of the redemption, it will be known to the Lord alone; alternatively, the verse means that once this day arrives, all will know that it is the day of God. And it will be not day and not night, but a mixture of both, or an entirely different category; and at evening time there will be light. The current familiar division between day and night will not exist at that time.

וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יֵצְאוּ מַיִם־חַיִּים מִירוּשָׁלִַם חֶצְיָם אֶל־הַיָּם הַקַּדְמוֹנִי וְחֶצְיָם אֶל־הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן בַּקַּיִץ וּבַחֹרֶף יִהְיֶה

The fact that the city will be split into two does not mean that it will be destroyed. On the contrary, it will take on a new form: It shall be on that day that spring water will emerge from Jerusalem, from the cleft. Jerusalem will be the watershed line: Half of it will flow to the eastern sea, the Dead Sea, and the other half of it to the western sea, the Mediterranean; it will be in the summer and in the winter, like a perennial stream or a river that flows all year round.

וְהָיָה ה' לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה' אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד

Then the Lord will be King over the entire earth; on that day the Lord will be one and His name one. There are many people who believe in God to a certain extent, but they do not know which name to call Him, and therefore there are numerous names for God, different opinions, and various religions. In the future, just as He will be one, so too, all will call Him by a single name.

יִסּוֹב כָּל־הָאָרֶץ כָּעֲרָבָה מִגֶּבַע לְרִמּוֹן נֶגֶב יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְרָאֲמָה וְיָשְׁבָה תַחְתֶּיהָ לְמִשַּׁעַר בִּנְיָמִן עַד־מְקוֹם שַׁעַר הָרִאשׁוֹן עַד־שַׁעַר הַפִּנִּים וּמִגְדַּל חֲנַנְאֵל עַד יִקְבֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ

It, this river, which according to depictions elsewhere will emerge from the Temple itself, will surround the entire land as a plain, from Geva to Rimon, south of Jerusalem. It will be raised, the city will be raised to a height, or elevated in status, and be settled permanently, steadily, in its rightful place, 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. Some of these places in Jerusalem are familiar from the books of Jeremiah and Nehemiah as well.

וְיָשְׁבוּ בָהּ וְחֵרֶם לֹא יִהְיֶה־עוֹד וְיָשְׁבָה יְרוּשָׁלַם לָבֶטַח

They will live in it, in Jerusalem, and there will be no more destruction, and Jerusalem will live in security and peace.

וְזֹאת תִּהְיֶה הַמַּגֵּפָה אֲשֶׁר יִגֹּף ה' אֶת־כָּל־הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר צָבְאוּ עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָם הָמֵק בְּשָׂרוֹ וְהוּא עֹמֵד עַל־רַגְלָיו וְעֵינָיו תִּמַּקְנָה בְחֹרֵיהֶן וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ תִּמַּק בְּפִיהֶם

Since God Himself will stand as a man of war to protect Jerusalem, the enemies will die from a strange plague. This will be the plague with which the Lord will afflict all the peoples that deployed, gathered to battle, against Jerusalem: His flesh will molder while he is standing on his feet. Sometimes skin can rot due to lack of movement, when an injured person is unable to rise from his sickbed, whereas here the flesh will waste away while the victims are standing up. And his eyes will molder in their sockets and his tongue will molder in his mouth. Someone suffering in this manner yearns for death to release him from his pain.

וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא תִּהְיֶה מְהוּמַת־ה' רַבָּה בָּהֶם וְהֶחֱזִיקוּ אִישׁ יַד רֵעֵהוּ וְעָלְתָה יָדוֹ עַל־יַד רֵעֵהוּ

It shall be on that day, when this plague occurs, the panic of the Lord will be great among them, and each man will grasp the hand of his neighbor in order to escape from the place of danger, and his hand will rise against the hand of his neighbor; they will lift up their hands against each other.

וְגַם־יְהוּדָה תִּלָּחֵם בִּירוּשָׁלִָם וְאֻסַּף חֵיל כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם סָבִיב זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּבְגָדִים לָרֹב מְאֹד

And also Judah will wage war against Jerusalem. Judah and Jerusalem will be controlled by different governments, and they will battle against each other (see above, 12:2). And the riches of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, as all the property of those who died in the war will be transferred to Israel: gold, silver, and garments in great abundance.

וְכֵן תִּהְיֶה מַגֵּפַת הַסּוּס הַפֶּרֶד הַגָּמָל וְהַחֲמוֹר וְכָל־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בַּמַּחֲנוֹת הָהֵמָּה כַּמַּגֵּפָה הַזֹּאת

Not only men in the enemy camp will die, but so will there be the plague of the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and all the animals that will be in those camps, like this plague.

וְהָיָה כָּל־הַנּוֹתָר מִכָּל־הַגּוֹיִם הַבָּאִים עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָם וְעָלוּ מִדֵּי שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לְמֶלֶךְ ה' צְבָאוֹת וְלָחֹג אֶת־חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת

It shall be that all who remain from all the nations that came against Jerusalem, after some died in battle and others from disease, will go up each and every year to prostrate themselves before the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. All the nations who sought to fight Jerusalem will acknowledge God and undertake a yearly pilgrimage to the Temple Mount. They will do so not only of their own goodwill, but also due to the threat of punishment.

וְהָיָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יַעֲלֶה מֵאֵת מִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאָרֶץ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לְמֶלֶךְ ה' צְבָאוֹת וְלֹא עֲלֵיהֶם יִהְיֶה הַגָּשֶׁם

It shall be that any one of the families of the land that does not go up to Jerusalem to prostrate himself before the King, the Lord of hosts, due to the great distance, the heavy expenses involved, or any other reason, then the rain will not be upon them, their land.

וְאִם־מִשְׁפַּחַת מִצְרַיִם לֹא־תַעֲלֶה וְלֹא בָאָה וְלֹא עֲלֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶה הַמַּגֵּפָה אֲשֶׁר יִגֹּף ה' אֶת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲלוּ לָחֹג אֶת־חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת

If the family of Egypt does not go up to Jerusalem, and does not come, it will not be upon them. In any case, they will have no rain, as produce in Egypt grows through the irrigation of the Nile, not rainfall, and therefore the withholding of rain has no real significance for Egypt. Instead, there will be the plague upon them, a drought or the consumption of flesh (see verse 12), with which the Lord will afflict the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

זֹאת תִּהְיֶה חַטַּאת מִצְרָיִם וְחַטַּאת כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲלוּ לָחֹג אֶת־חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת

This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה עַל־מְצִלּוֹת הַסּוּס קֹדֶשׁ לַה' וְהָיָה הַסִּירוֹת בְּבֵית ה' כַּמִּזְרָקִים לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ

On that day, when people from all over the world come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival, they will bring ornaments, jewelry, and gifts to the house of God, until there will be even on the bells of the horses a written dedication: Holy to the Lord, and as there will not be enough room in the Temple for all the gifts, various functions will be found for them: The pots that are in the House of the Lord will be used like the bowls before the altar. Even if only some of the visiting masses bring offerings, there will not be enough basins for all the blood, and therefore pots will have to be used for this purpose.

וְהָיָה כָּל־סִיר בִּירוּשָׁלִַם וּבִיהוּדָה קֹדֶשׁ לַה' צְבָאוֹת וּבָאוּ כָּל־הַזֹּבְחִים וְלָקְחוּ מֵהֶם וּבִשְּׁלוּ בָהֶם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶה כְנַעֲנִי עוֹד בְּבֵית־ה' צְבָאוֹת בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא

Since the pots of the Temple will be used for the blood of offerings, it will not be permitted to cook in them, as they will be sacred vessels. Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be sacred to the Lord of hosts. Due to the sheer number of offerings, it will be common knowledge that meat eaten in Jerusalem is presumably sacred, and therefore all the pots will likewise be sacred vessels. And all those slaughtering will come and take from them, and cook in them without concern. It will not be necessary to ritually purify those vessels, as must be done with other containers before using them for sacrificial meat, as only sacred pots will be found in every house. And there will no longer be merchants [kena’ani] in the House of the Lord of hosts on that day. Some explain that the word kena’ani refers to Canaanites, as in the First and Second Temples there were descendants of the Canaanite peoples who served in the Temple, but in the future Temple they will no longer have this role. The children of Israel will become a nation of priests, a people of spiritual leaders for the entire world, and the rest of the nations will acknowledge the God of Israel and the people’s special status.