Zechariah 9
New Century Version
Punishment on Israel’s Enemies
9 This message is the word of the Lord.
The message is against the land of Hadrach
and the city of Damascus.
The tribes of Israel and all people
belong to the Lord.
2 The message is also against the city of Hamath, on the border,
and against Tyre and Sidon, with their skill.
3 Tyre has built a strong wall for herself.
She has piled up silver like dust
and gold like the mud in the streets.
4 But the Lord will take away all she has
and destroy her power on the sea.
That city will be destroyed by fire.
5 The city of Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.
The people of Gaza will shake with fear,
and the people of Ekron will lose hope.
No king will be left in Gaza,
and no one will live in Ashkelon anymore.
6 Foreigners will live in Ashdod,
and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will stop them from drinking blood
and from eating forbidden food.
Those left alive will belong to God.
They will be leaders in Judah,
and Ekron will become like the Jebusites.
8 I will protect my Temple
from armies who would come or go.
No one will hurt my people again,
because now I am watching them.
The King Is Coming
9 Rejoice greatly, people of Jerusalem!
Shout for joy, people of Jerusalem!
Your king is coming to you.
He does what is right, and he saves.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey,
on the colt of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the horses from Jerusalem.
The bows used in war will be broken.
The king will talk to the nations about peace.
His kingdom will go from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of the agreement with you
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 You prisoners who have hope,
return to your place of safety.
Today I am telling you
that I will give you back twice as much as before.
13 I will use Judah like a bow
and Ephraim like the arrows.
Jerusalem, I will use your men
to fight the men of Greece.
I will use you like a warrior’s sword.
14 Then the Lord will appear above them,
and his arrows will shoot like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
and he will march in the storms of the south.
15 The Lord All-Powerful will protect them;
they will destroy the enemy with slingshots.
They will drink and shout like drunks.
They will be filled like a bowl
used for sprinkling blood at the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them
as if his people were sheep.
They will shine in his land
like jewels in a crown.
17 They will be so pretty and beautiful.
The young men will grow strong on the grain
and the young women on new wine.
Zechariah 9
King James Version
9 The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.
2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.
3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
14 And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
