Zechariah 9

Zechariah 9

¹An oracle.

The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach,

and will rest upon Damascus;

for the eye of man

and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;

²and Hamath, also, which borders on it;

Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

³Tyre built herself a stronghold,

and heaped up silver like the dust,

and fine gold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will dispossess her,

and he will strike her power in the sea;

and she will be devoured with fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it, and fear;

Gaza also, and will writhe in agony;

as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed;

and the king will perish from Gaza,

and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod,

and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁷I will take away his blood out of his mouth,

and his abominations from between his teeth;

and he also will be a remnant for our God;

and he will be as a chieftain in Judah,

and Ekron as a Jebusite.

⁸I will encamp around my house against the army,

that none pass through or return;

and no oppressor will pass through them any more:

for now I have seen with my eyes.

⁹Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King comes to you!

He is righteous, and having salvation;

lowly, and riding on a donkey,

even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,

and the horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow will be cut off;

and he will speak peace to the nations:

and his dominion will be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also,

because of the blood of your covenant,

I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.

¹²Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope!

Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

¹³For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me.

I have filled the bow with Ephraim;

and I will stir up your sons, Zion,

against your sons, Greece,

and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

¹⁴Yahweh will be seen over them;

and his arrow will go flash like lightning;

and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet,

and will go with whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵Yahweh of Armies will defend them;

and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones;

and they will drink, and roar as through wine;

and they will be filled like bowls,

like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people;

for they are like the jewels of a crown,

lifted on high over his land.

¹⁷For how great is his goodness,

and how great is his beauty!

Grain will make the young men flourish,

and new wine the virgins.