Israel Defended Against Enemies

9 The 1burden of the word of the Lord—

Against the land of Hadrach,

And aDamascus its resting place

(For bthe eyes of men

And all the tribes of Israel

Are on the Lord);

2 Also against cHamath, which borders on it,

And against dTyre and eSidon, though they are very fwise.

3 For Tyre built herself a tower,

Heaped up silver like the dust,

And gold like the mire of the streets.

4 Behold, gthe Lord will cast her out;

He will destroy hher power in the sea,

And she will be devoured by fire.

5 Ashkelon shall see it and fear;

Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;

And iEkron, for He dried up her expectation.

The king shall perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

6 “A 2mixed race shall settle jin Ashdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the kPhilistines.

7 I will take away the blood from his mouth,

And the abominations from between his teeth.

But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,

And shall be like a leader in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

8 lI will camp around My house

Because of the army,

Because of him who passes by and him who returns.

No more shall an oppressor pass through them,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King

9 “Rejoice mgreatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, nyour King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I owill cut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the horse from Jerusalem;

The pbattle bow shall be cut off.

He shall speak peace to the nations;

His dominion shall be q‘from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

God Will Save His People

11 “As for you also,

Because of the blood of your covenant,

I will set your rprisoners free from the waterless pit.

12 Return to the stronghold,

sYou prisoners of hope.

Even today I declare

That I will restore tdouble to you.

13 For I have bent Judah, My bow,

Fitted the bow with Ephraim,

And raised up your sons, O Zion,

Against your sons, O Greece,

And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

14 Then the Lord will be seen over them,

And uHis arrow will go forth like lightning.

The Lord God will blow the trumpet,

And go vwith whirlwinds from the south.

15 The Lord of hosts will wdefend them;

They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.

They shall drink and roar as if with wine;

They shall be filled with blood like 3basins,

Like the corners of the altar.

16 The Lord their God will xsave them in that day,

As the flock of His people.

For ythey shall be like the 4jewels of a crown,

zLifted like a banner over His land—

17 For ahow great is 5its goodness

And how great 5its bbeauty!

cGrain shall make the young men thrive,

And new wine the young women.