JUDGMENT OF ZION’S ENEMIES

9 A pronouncement:

The word of the Lord

is against the land of Hadrach,

and Damascusa is its resting place—

for the eyes of humanity

and all the tribes of Israel

are on the LordA—

2 and also against Hamath,b which borders it,

as well as Tyrec and Sidon,d

though they are very shrewd.

3 Tyre has built herself a fortress;

she has heaped up silver like dust

and gold like the dirt of the streets.

4 Listen! The Lord will impoverish her

and cast her wealth into the sea;

she herself will be consumed by fire.e

5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;

Gaza too, and will writhe in great pain,

as will Ekron, for her hope will fail.

There will cease to be a king in Gaza,

and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.

6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod,

and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.f

7 I will remove the blood from their mouths

and the abhorrent thingsg

from between their teeth.

Then they too will become a remnant for our God;

they will become like a clan in Judah

and Ekron like the Jebusites.h

8 I will encamp at my house as a guard,

against those who march back and forth,

and no oppressor will march against them again,

for now I have seen with my own eyes.