Fate of the nations
9 A pronouncement. The Lord’s word is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus is its resting place,
for the city of Aram[a] and all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord.
2 Hamath also borders on it.
Tyre and Sidon, indeed, each is exceedingly wise.
3 Tyre built a fortress for herself.
She piled up silver like dust
and gold like mud in the streets,
4 but the Lord will take her possessions away
and knock her wealth into the sea.
She will be devoured with fire.
5 Ashkelon will look and be afraid.
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and also Ekron, because her hope has dried up.
The king will perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon won’t be inhabited.
6 An illegitimate child will dwell in Ashdod;
I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will remove bloody food from his mouth
and pieces of unclean food from between his teeth.
He will be a survivor who belongs to our God.
He will be like a chieftain in Judah;
Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
8 I will encamp before my house as a guard
against anyone departing or returning.
A slave driver will no longer pass through against them,
for I have seen you[b] with my eyes.
Joy and protection for Judah and Ephraim
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion.
Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem.
Look, your king will come to you.
He is righteous and victorious.
He is humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.
10 He[c] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the warhorse from Jerusalem.
The bow used in battle will be cut off;
he will speak peace to the nations.
His rule will stretch from sea to sea,
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
11 Moreover,[d] by the blood of your covenant,
I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope.
Moreover, declare today that I will return double to you.
13 Indeed, I myself will bend Judah as a bow;
I will fill it with Ephraim.
Zion, I will rouse your sons against your sons. Greece, I will make you
like a warrior’s sword.
14 The Lord will appear above them;
his arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the horn;
he will march forth on the stormy winds of the south.
15 The Lord of heavenly forces will protect them.
They will devour and subdue like sling stones.[e]
They will drink, mumbling like one having wine.
They will be filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will deliver them on that day as the flock of his people;
they will be the jewels in a crown dotting his land.
17 What is his goodness,
and what is his beauty?
Grain will make his young men flourish;
so too wine his young women.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 9:1 Or eyes of humanity
- Zechariah 9:8 Heb lacks you.
- Zechariah 9:10 LXX; MT I
- Zechariah 9:11 Heb uncertain
- Zechariah 9:15 Heb uncertain