Zechariah
Chapter 9
1 The heavy message from God is in Hadrach, and Damascus will be its resting place: when people and all the tribes of Israel look to God.
2 Hamath will also border there; Tyre and Sidon, even if they are very wise.
3 Tyre built a stronghold for itself and piled up silver like dust, and gold like the mud of the streets.
4 Look, God will throw her out and destroy her strength in the sea; and she will be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will see and be very sad, and so will Ekron, because what they hoped for will fail. The king will be gone from Gaza, and no one will live in Ashkelon.
6 A child born out of wedlock will live in Ashdod, and I will end the arrogance of the Philistines.
7 I will remove the blood from his mouth and the forbidden things from his teeth; but the one who stays will belong to our God, and will be like a leader in Judah, and Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
8 I will protect my house from the army and from anyone coming and going, and no one will oppress them again, because now I have seen it with my own eyes.
9 Be very happy, daughter of Zion; cheer, daughter of Jerusalem: see, your King comes to you: he is fair, and brings rescue; humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the young of a donkey.
10 I will remove the war chariots from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem; the battle bows will be taken away. He will bring peace to the nations, and his rule will stretch from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.
11 You too, by the blood of your agreement, I have freed your captives from a waterless pit.
12 Go to the safe place, you who hope and wait; today I promise to give you back much more than you lost.
13 When I have prepared Judah, equipped it with Ephraim, and rallied your children, Zion, against Greece’s children, making you like a warrior’s sword.
14 God will be seen above them, and his arrow will shoot out like lightning: God will sound the trumpet and come with the southern storms.
15 God will protect them; they will eat and conquer with slingshot stones; they will drink and shout as if drunk; they will be full like bowls, like the corners of an altar.
16 God will save them on that day like a shepherd saves his sheep; they will shine in his land like jewels in a crown.
17 How great is God’s goodness and beauty! Grain will make young men happy, and new wine will make young women joyful.