Zechariah 9

¹The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place . For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel ,

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

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

⁴But behold , the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea , and she 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 confounded . The king shall perish from Gaza ; Ashkelon shall be uninhabited ;

⁶a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod , and I will cut off 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 a clan in Judah , and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites .

⁸Then I will encamp at my house as a guard , so that none shall march to and fro ; no oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes .

⁹Rejoice 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 .

¹⁰I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem ; and the battle bow shall be cut off , and he shall speak peace to the nations ; his rule 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 . I will stir up 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 will go forth like lightning ; the Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south .

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

¹⁶On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people ; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land .

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