The final battle and salvation

1 In those days and at that time when I reestablish Judah and Jeru salem,

2 I shall let all the nations gather together and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I shall uphold against them the cause of Israel, my people and my heritage. For they have dispersed them among the nations and divided my land.

3 They cast lots for my people; they gave a boy for a harlot, and a girl for the wine they drank.

4 And you Tyre and Sidon, and all the districts of Philistia, what are you for me? Will you take revenge on me? If you want to do that, swiftly and immediately will I take reprisals against you!

5 You who carried off my silver and gold and my finest jewelry to your temples!

6 You sold to the Greeks the people of Judah and Jerusalem removing them far away from their own land.

7 But now I am going to summon them from wherever you sold them, and I will return your deed on your head.

8 Yah weh says: I will sell your sons and daughters to the Judeans who will then sell them to the Sabaeans in a distant land.

9 Make this known among the nations, proclaim the holy war, call the warriors, let men of war advance!

10 Hammer your plowshares into swords, your sickles into spears! Let the weak say: I am a warrior! And the meek: I too will fight!

11 Come quickly, neighboring nations, and assemble!

12 Rise up, O peoples, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, nations.

13 Bring a sickle for the harvest is ripe; come and tread for the winepress is full and the vats overflow, so great is their wickedness!

14 Multitudes and more multitudes in the Valley of Verdict! The day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Verdict!

15 The sun and the moon become dark, the stars lose their radiance.

16 Yah weh roars from Zion and raises his voice from Jeru salem; heaven and earth are shaken. Indeed Yah weh is a refuge for his people, a strong hold for the Israelites.

17 You will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place, and foreigners will never pass through there again.

18 On that day the mountains shall drip wine and the hills flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will run with water and a fountain will spring from the House of Yahweh, and water the valley of Shittim.

19 On the other hand, Egypt will be devastated and Edom will become a deserted wasteland because they committed violence against Judah, and shed innocent blood in their country.

20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jeru salem through all generations.

21 And I shall avenge their blood and not leave it unpunished, for Yahweh dwells in Zion.

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Comments , Chapter 4

• 4.1 We can apply to this chapter what is said concerning Zechariah 12-14. The prophet uses a crisis in which the Jews were harshly oppressed to emphasize that God is the Lord of history.