Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
9 An Oracle.
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
and will rest upon Damascus.
For to the Lord belongs the capital[a] of Aram,[b]
as do all the tribes of Israel;
2 Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.(A)
3 Tyre has built itself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(B)
4 But now, the Lord will strip it of its possessions
and hurl its wealth into the sea,
and it shall be devoured by fire.(C)
5 Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid;
Gaza, too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are withered.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;(D)
6 a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,
and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.(E)
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it, too, shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.(F)
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that no one shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again overrun them,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.(G)
The Coming Ruler of God’s People
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(H)
10 He[c] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(I)
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.(J)
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.(K)
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.[d]
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.(L)
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.(M)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;[e]
they shall drink their blood[f] like wine
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.(N)
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
for they are the flock of his people,
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.(O)
17 For what goodness and beauty are his!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.(P)
Footnotes
- 9.1Heb eye
- 9.1Cn: Heb of Adam (or of humankind)
- 9.10Gk: Heb I
- 9.13Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.15Cn: Heb the slingstones
- 9.15Gk: Heb they roared
Cross references
- 9.2 : Jer 49.23; Ezek 28.3–5, 12, 21
- 9.3 : 2 Sam 24.7; 1 Kings 10.21, 27; Ezek 27.33
- 9.4 : Isa 23.1; Ezek 28.18
- 9.5 : Am 1.6–8
- 9.6 : Am 1.8
- 9.7 : Ezek 25.15–17
- 9.8 : Isa 52.1; 54.14; 60.18; Zech 2.5
- 9.9 : Isa 9.6, 7; 43.3, 11; 57.15; Zeph 3.14, 15; Mt 21.5
- 9.10 : Ps 72.8; Isa 57.19; 60.12; Hos 1.7; 2.18; Hag 2.22
- 9.11 : Ex 24.8; Isa 51.14; Heb 10.29
- 9.12 : Isa 61.7; Jer 16.19; 17.13
- 9.13 : Ps 45.3; Isa 49.2; Jer 51.20; Joel 3.6
- 9.14 : Ps 18.14; Isa 21.1; 27.13; 31.5; 66.15
- 9.15 : Ex 27.2; Job 41.28; Ps 78.65; Isa 37.35; Zech 12.6
- 9.16 : Isa 62.3; Jer 31.10, 11
- 9.17 : Jer 31.12, 14