Zechariah 9

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

⁹An Oracle.

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach

and will rest upon Damascus.

For to the Lord belongs the capital^c of Aram,^d

as do all the tribes of Israel;

²Hamath also, which borders on it,

Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.^*

³Tyre has built itself a rampart

and heaped up silver like dust

and gold like the dirt of the streets.^*

⁴But now, the Lord will strip it of its possessions

and hurl its wealth into the sea,

and it shall be devoured by fire.^*

⁵Ashkelon 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;^*

⁶a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,

and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.^*

⁷I 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.^*

⁸Then 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.^*

The Coming Ruler of God’s People

⁹Rejoice 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.^*

¹⁰He^e 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.^*

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

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.^*

¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.^*

¹³For I have bent Judah as my bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.^f

I will arouse your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, O Greece,

and wield you like a warrior’s sword.^*

¹⁴Then 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.^*

¹⁵The Lord of hosts will protect them,

and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;^g

they shall drink their blood^h like wine

and be full like a bowl,

drenched like the corners of the altar.^*

¹⁶On 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.^*

¹⁷For what goodness and beauty are his!

Grain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.^*