Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

9 The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach

and gDamascus is its resting place.

For the Lord has an eye on mankind

and on all the tribes of Israel,1

2  hand on Hamath also, which borders on it,

iTyre and iSidon, though jthey are very wise.

3  Tyre has built herself ka rampart

and lheaped up silver like dust,

and fine gold like the mud of the streets.

4  But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions

and strike down mher power on the sea,

and nshe shall be devoured by fire.

5  oAshkelon shall see it, and be afraid;

Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;

Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.

The king shall perish from Gaza;

Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;

6  pa mixed people2 shall dwell in Ashdod,

and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

7  I will take away qits blood from its mouth,

and rits abominations from between its teeth;

sit too shall be a remnant for our God;

it shall be like ta clan in Judah,

and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.

8  Then uI will encamp at my house as a guard,

vso that none shall march to and fro;

wno oppressor shall again march over them,

xfor now I see with my own eyes.

The Coming King of Zion

9  yRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

zBehold, ayour king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

bhumble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10  cI will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and dthe war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and ehe shall speak peace to the nations;

fhis rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from gthe River3 to the ends of the earth.

11  As for you also, because of hthe blood of my covenant with you,

iI will set your prisoners free from jthe waterless pit.

12  Return to your stronghold, O kprisoners of hope;

today I declare that lI will restore to you double.

13  For mI have bent Judah as my bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.

I will stir up your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, nO Greece,

and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

The Lord Will Save His People

14  Then the Lord will appear over them,

and ohis arrow will go forth like lightning;

pthe Lord God will sound the trumpet

and will march forth in qthe whirlwinds rof the south.

15  The Lord of hosts swill protect them,

and tthey shall devour, uand tread down the sling stones,

and vthey shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,

and be full like a bowl,

drenched wlike the corners of the altar.

16  On that day the Lord their God will save them,

as xthe flock of his people;

for ylike the jewels of a crown

they shall shine on his land.

17  zFor how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!

aGrain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

The Restoration for Judah and Israel

10 Ask rain bfrom the Lord

in the season of cthe spring rain,

from the Lord dwho makes the storm clouds,

and ehe will give them showers of rain,

to everyone the vegetation in the field.

2  For fthe household gods gutter nonsense,

and the diviners see lies;

hthey tell false dreams

and give empty consolation.

Therefore ithe people wander like sheep;

they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

3  j“My anger is hot against the shepherds,

and kI will punish the leaders;1

for lthe Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,

and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.

4  From him shall come mthe cornerstone,

from him nthe tent peg,

from him the battle bow,

from him every ruler—oall of them together.

5  They shall be like mighty men in battle,

ptrampling the foe in the mud of the streets;

they shall fight because the Lord is with them,

and they shall put to shame qthe riders on horses.

6  r“I will strengthen the house of Judah,

and sI will save the house of Joseph.

tI will bring them back ubecause I have compassion on them,

and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,

for vI am the Lord their God and I will answer them.

7  Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior,

and wtheir hearts shall be glad as with wine.

Their children shall see it and be glad;

their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.

8  x“I will whistle for them and ygather them in,

for I have redeemed them,

and zthey shall be as many as they were before.

9  aThough I scattered them among the nations,

yet in far countries bthey shall remember me,

and with their children they shall live and return.

10  cI will bring them home from the land of Egypt,

and gather them from Assyria,

and dI will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,

etill there is no room for them.

11  fHe shall pass through the sea of troubles

and strike down the waves of the sea,

gand all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up.

The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,

and hthe scepter of Egypt shall depart.

12  iI will make them strong in the Lord,

and jthey shall walk in his name,”

declares the Lord.