Zechariah 9

¹ The oracle of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus is its resting place —
for the LORD has his eye on mankind
and on all the tribes of Israel —

² and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

³ Tyre has built herself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust
and fine gold like the mud of the streets.

⁴ Behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
and strike down her power on the sea,
and she will be devoured by fire.

⁵ Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;
Gaza too, and will writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because her hope is put to shame.
The king will perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶ A mixed people will dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

⁷ I will take away his blood from his mouth
and his abominations from between his teeth.
He too will be a remnant for our God;
he will be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.

⁸ Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that no one will march back and forth.
No oppressor will again overrun them,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰ I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow will be cut off,
and he will speak peace to the nations.
His rule will be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹ As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.

¹³ For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior's sword.

¹⁴ Then the LORD will appear over them,
and his arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord GOD will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵ The LORD of hosts will protect them,
and they will devour and tread down the sling stones,
and they will drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a sacrificial basin,
drenched like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶ On that day the LORD their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they will sparkle over his land.

¹⁷ For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.