Israel Defended Against Enemies

The [a]burden of the word of the Lord
Against the land of Hadrach,
And (A)Damascus its resting place
(For (B)the eyes of men
And all the tribes of Israel
Are on the Lord);
Also against (C)Hamath, which borders on it,
And against (D)Tyre and (E)Sidon, though they are very (F)wise.

For Tyre built herself a tower,
Heaped up silver like the dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, (G)the Lord will cast her out;
He will destroy (H)her power in the sea,
And she will be devoured by fire.

Ashkelon shall see it and fear;
Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;
And (I)Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.
The king shall perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

“A[b] mixed race shall settle (J)in Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the (K)Philistines.
I will take away the blood from his mouth,
And the abominations from between his teeth.
But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,
And shall be like a leader in Judah,
And Ekron like a Jebusite.
(L)I will camp around My house
Because of the army,
Because of him who passes by and him who returns.
No more shall an oppressor pass through them,
For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King(M)

“Rejoice (N)greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, (O)your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I (P)will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The (Q)battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be (R)‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

God Will Save His People

11 “As for you also,
Because of the blood of your covenant,
I will set your (S)prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to the stronghold,
(T)You prisoners of hope.
Even today I declare
That I will restore (U)double to you.
13 For I have bent Judah, My bow,
Fitted the bow with Ephraim,
And raised up your sons, O Zion,
Against your sons, O Greece,
And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

14 Then the Lord will be seen over them,
And (V)His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
And go (W)with whirlwinds from the south.
15 The Lord of hosts will (X)defend them;
They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.
They shall drink and roar as if with wine;
They shall be filled with blood like [c]basins,
Like the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will (Y)save them in that day,
As the flock of His people.
For (Z)they shall be like the [d]jewels of a crown,
(AA)Lifted like a banner over His land—
17 For (AB)how great is [e]its goodness
And how great its (AC)beauty!
(AD)Grain shall make the young men thrive,
And new wine the young women.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 oracle, prophecy
  2. Zechariah 9:6 Lit. An illegitimate one
  3. Zechariah 9:15 Sacrificial basins
  4. Zechariah 9:16 Lit. stones
  5. Zechariah 9:17 Lit. His

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

A prophecy:(A)

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
    and will come to rest on Damascus(B)
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
    are on the Lord[a]
and on Hamath(C) too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre(D) and Sidon,(E) though they are very skillful.
Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.(F)
But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy(G) her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.(H)
Ashkelon(I) will see it and fear;
    Gaza will writhe in agony,
    and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
    and Ashkelon will be deserted.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end(J) to the pride of the Philistines.
I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God(K)
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.(L)
But I will encamp(M) at my temple
    to guard it against marauding forces.(N)
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
    for now I am keeping watch.(O)

The Coming of Zion’s King

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!(P)
    Shout,(Q) Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,(R)
    righteous and victorious,(S)
lowly and riding on a donkey,(T)
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(U)
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.(V)
He will proclaim peace(W) to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River[b] to the ends of the earth.(X)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant(Y) with you,
    I will free your prisoners(Z) from the waterless pit.(AA)
12 Return to your fortress,(AB) you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice(AC) as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow(AD)
    and fill it with Ephraim.(AE)
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,(AF)
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.(AG)

The Lord Will Appear

14 Then the Lord will appear over them;(AH)
    his arrow will flash like lightning.(AI)
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;(AJ)
    he will march in the storms(AK) of the south,
15     and the Lord Almighty will shield(AL) them.
They will destroy
    and overcome with slingstones.(AM)
They will drink and roar as with wine;(AN)
    they will be full like a bowl(AO)
    used for sprinkling[c] the corners(AP) of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day(AQ)
    as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
    like jewels in a crown.(AR)
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the young women.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
  2. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  3. Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like

Proclamation Against Syria and Israel

17 The (A)burden[a] against Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
[b]The cities of (B)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (C)no one will make them afraid.
(D)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

“In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [c]wane,
And (E)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
(F)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
(G)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.

In that day a man will (H)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (I)fingers have made,
Nor the [d]wooden images nor the incense altars.

In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [e]bough
And [f]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

10 Because you have forgotten (J)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [g]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (K)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (L)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (M)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

Proclamation Against Ethiopia

18 Woe (N)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of [h]Ethiopia,
Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”

All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
(O)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will [i]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

In that time (P)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[j]From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
  2. Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
  3. Isaiah 17:4 fade
  4. Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  5. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
  6. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
  7. Isaiah 17:10 refuge
  8. Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
  9. Isaiah 18:4 watch
  10. Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17 A prophecy(A) against Damascus:(B)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.(C)
The cities of Aroer(D) will be deserted
    and left to flocks,(E) which will lie down,(F)
    with no one to make them afraid.(G)
The fortified(H) city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory(I) of the Israelites,”(J)
declares the Lord Almighty.

“In that day(K) the glory(L) of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste(M) away.
It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering(N) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(O)
    in the Valley of Rephaim.(P)
Yet some gleanings will remain,(Q)
    as when an olive tree is beaten,(R)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

In that day(S) people will look(T) to their Maker(U)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One(V) of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,(W)
    the work of their hands,(X)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a](Y)
    and the incense altars their fingers(Z) have made.

In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(AA) And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten(AB) God your Savior;(AC)
    you have not remembered the Rock,(AD) your fortress.(AE)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,(AF)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning(AG) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(AH) will be as nothing(AI)
    in the day of disease and incurable(AJ) pain.(AK)

12 Woe to the many nations that rage(AL)
    they rage like the raging sea!(AM)
Woe to the peoples who roar(AN)
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!(AO)
13 Although the peoples roar(AP) like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes(AQ) them they flee(AR) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(AS) on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.(AT)
14 In the evening, sudden(AU) terror!(AV)
    Before the morning, they are gone!(AW)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(AX) to the land of whirring wings[b]
    along the rivers of Cush,[c](AY)
which sends envoys(AZ) by sea
    in papyrus(BA) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BB)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(BC) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(BD)

All you people of the world,(BE)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(BF) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(BG) sounds,
    you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(BH) and will look on from my dwelling place,(BI)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(BJ)
    like a cloud of dew(BK) in the heat of harvest.”
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(BL) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(BM)
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(BN)
    and to the wild animals;(BO)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts(BP) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BQ)
    from a people feared(BR) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(BS)

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(BT)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
  2. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  3. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region