Bible Strands
Zechariah 14:12
And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Zechariah delivers this oracle concerning a future day when hostile nations gather against Jerusalem, positioned between the promise of the city’s secure dwelling (14:11) and the account of a divinely sent panic (14:13).
The words — מַגֵּפָה (magefah) translates literally as plague, and יִגּוֹף (yigof) means he will strike, framing the coming judgment as a direct divine assault.
The thread — This motif of God judging opposing nations appears in Ezekiel 39:17 (summoning birds to a feast), Isaiah 66:15 (the LORD arriving with fire), and Micah 4:11 (nations boasting against Zion).
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human opposition to God’s purposes meets immediate, concrete divine intervention rather than abstract or delayed consequences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 39:17 And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.
- Isaiah 66:15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Micah 4:11 But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
- Psalms 90:11 Who knows the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
- Psalms 110:5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
- Ezekiel 38:18 Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up.
- Micah 7:16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
- Zechariah 12:9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
- Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
- Leviticus 26:21 If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.