On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the sprinkling bowls before the altar.
Parallel translations
- WEB In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO YAHWEH”; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.
- KJV In 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.
- NKJV In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
- NASB On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.
- NLT On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the Lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
On that day even the bells of the horses will bear the inscription 'HOLY TO YAHWEH,' and ordinary pots will be as sacred as the temple bowls. It matters because it pictures a world where everything, even the common, is holy to God.
Overview
The phrase 'HOLY TO YAHWEH,' once engraved only on the high priest's crown (Exod. 28:36), now marks even horses' bells, and common cooking pots become as holy as sacred temple vessels. The whole of life is consecrated; the line between sacred and secular dissolves under God's universal reign. This anticipates the consummation in which all things are made holy and devoted to God, the goal toward which the gospel moves all creation (1 Cor. 10:31; Rev. 21:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 37
- 1 Cor 3:16–17Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
- Exod 39:30They also made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and they engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.
- Isa 23:18Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.
- 1 Pet 2:5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Lev 8:9Moses also put the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the LORD had commanded him.
- Zech 9:15The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.
- Lev 6:28The clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze pot, the pot must be scoured and rinsed with water.
- Num 7:19The offering he presented was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- Num 7:13His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
- Num 7:84–85So these were the offerings from the leaders of Israel for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold dishes.
- Num 4:14and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.
- Exod 37:16He also made the utensils for the table out of pure gold: its plates and dishes, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.
- Num 4:7Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it.
- Exod 28:33–36Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,
- Col 3:17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- Col 3:22–24Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.
- Titus 1:15–16To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
- Ps 110:3Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.
- Rom 14:17–18For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- 1 Pet 4:11If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
- Rev 20:6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
- Rev 5:10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
- Rev 1:6who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
- Exod 25:29You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.
- 1 Sam 2:14and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.
- 2 Chr 4:8Additionally, he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
- Prov 21:3–4To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- Ezek 46:20–24and said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people.”
- Obad 1:17But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will reclaim their possession.
- Zeph 2:11The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.
- Mal 1:11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Luke 11:41But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.
- Acts 11:9But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
- Acts 15:9He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
- Acts 10:28He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
- Acts 10:15The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 14:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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