Judgment · The King reigns; holiness fills the kingdom

Zechariah 14:12-21

Zechariah · ~480 BC · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“And 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.”
King James Version · the opening — all 10 verses are below
More of Zechariah 14 on this siteZechariah 14:1-3 · Zechariah 14:4 · Zechariah 14:5-11

The plague on the nations that warred against Jerusalem, and the survivors going up year by year to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles — the holiness of the kingdom age.

Read the whole passage — all 10 verses (KJV)

14:12And 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.

14:13And 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.

14:14And 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.

14:15And 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.

14:16And 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.

14:17And 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.

14:18And 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.

14:19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

14:20In 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.

14:21Yea, 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.

Fulfillment References

Zechariah 14:9 Isaiah 66:23 Revelation 19:15 Leviticus 23:34

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalThe King, 'the LORD of hosts,' whom the nations worship, is Jesus — the one God reigning, the nations keeping His feast.
JewishThe Messianic age when the nations come up to Jerusalem to keep Tabernacles before the King, the LORD of hosts.
CatholicThe reign of Christ the King, the nations gathered in worship; holiness pervading all.
ProtestantThe kingdom age — the nations worshipping the King and keeping Tabernacles, with 'holiness unto the LORD' on everything.
OrthodoxChrist the King worshipped by the nations in the age to come.
DispensationalThe literal millennial kingdom — the nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem under Christ's reign.
AcademicThe 'nations keeping Tabernacles' draws the Feast of Ingathering into the eschatological pilgrimage of the nations (cf. Isa. 2; 66:23).

Scholarship & Sources

Zechariah 14:16-19 draws the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, the ingathering) into the nations' eschatological pilgrimage to Zion (cf. Isa. 2:2-4; 66:23); 'holiness unto the LORD' on the bells and pots (14:20-21) universalizes the temple's holiness to all of life.

Open the full interactive entry →
Audio narration (listen to this prophecy read aloud), cross-references, Hebrew/Greek, Dead Sea Scrolls notes, a prophetic timeline, network maps, study tools and multi-tradition analysis in the interactive explorer.
Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, D.Min. · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.