Zechariah 14:19 (YLT)

Passage

This is the punishment of the sin of Egypt, And the punishment of the sin of all the nations, That go not up to celebrate the feast of booths.

Nearby Context

Zechariah 14:17 And it hath come to pass, That he who doth not go up of the families of the land unto Jerusalem, To bow himself to the King, Jehovah of Hosts, Even on them there is no shower.

Zechariah 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, nor come in, Then not on them is the plague With which Jehovah doth plague the nations That go not up to celebrate the feast of booths.

Zechariah 14:19 This is the punishment of the sin of Egypt, And the punishment of the sin of all the nations, That go not up to celebrate the feast of booths.

Zechariah 14:20 In that day there is on bells of the horse, `Holy to Jehovah,' And the pots in the house of Jehovah Have been as bowls before the altar.

Zechariah 14:21 And every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, Have been holy to Jehovah of Hosts, And all those sacrificing have come in, And have taken of them, and boiled in them, And there is no merchant any more in the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "punishment", "egypt", "nations", "celebrate", "feast", and "booths". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "punishment" and "egypt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And if the family of Egypt go..." into verse 20's "In that day there is on bells...", so "punishment" and "egypt" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "punishment" and "egypt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.