Zechariah 9-10

Common English Bible

9 A pronouncement. The Lord’s word is against the land of Hadrach,
        and Damascus is its resting place,
        for the city of Aram^[a] and all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord.
² Hamath also borders on it.
Tyre and Sidon, indeed, each is exceedingly wise.
³ Tyre built a fortress for herself.
She piled up silver like dust
        and gold like mud in the streets,
⁴ but the Lord will take her possessions away
        and knock her wealth into the sea.
She will be devoured with fire.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion.
        Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem.
Look, your king will come to you.
        He is righteous and victorious.
        He is humble and riding on an ass,
            on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.
¹⁰ He^[c] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
        and the warhorse from Jerusalem.
The bow used in battle will be cut off;
        he will speak peace to the nations.
His rule will stretch from sea to sea,
        and from the river to the ends of the earth.
¹¹ Moreover,^[d] by the blood of your covenant,
    I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope.
        Moreover, declare today that I will return double to you.
¹³ Indeed, I myself will bend Judah as a bow;
        I will fill it with Ephraim.
Zion, I will rouse your sons against your sons. Greece, I will make you
        like a warrior’s sword.
¹⁴ The Lord will appear above them;
        his arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the horn;
        he will march forth on the stormy winds of the south.
¹⁵ The Lord of heavenly forces will protect them.
        They will devour and subdue like sling stones.^[e]
        They will drink, mumbling like one having wine.
        They will be filled like a bowl, like the corners of the altar.
¹⁶ The Lord their God will deliver them on that day as the flock of his people;
        they will be the jewels in a crown dotting his land.
¹⁷ What is his goodness,
        and what is his beauty?
Grain will make his young men flourish;
        so too wine his young women.

10 Ask the Lord for rain when it is time for the spring rain.
            The Lord is the one who makes the thunderstorms.
        He gives them rain showers.
        He gives vegetation in the field to each of them.^[f]
2 The household divine images
        speak idolatry, and diviners see lies.
They interpret dreams falsely
        and provide empty comfort.
Therefore, they wander like sheep,
        but they are oppressed because there is no shepherd.
³ My anger burns hot against the shepherds;
            I will punish the goats.
        The Lord of heavenly forces will take care of his splendor, the house of Judah.
        He will make them like his majestic horse in battle.
⁴ The cornerstone, the tent peg, and the bow used in battle will come from Judah.
        Every oppressor will leave Judah simultaneously.
⁵ Judah will be like warriors,
        trampling through the muddy streets during battle.
They will do battle because the Lord is with them.
        All the cavalry will be ashamed.
⁶ I will strengthen the house of Judah
        and deliver the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back^[g] because I have compassion on them.
        They will be as though I hadn’t rejected them, for I am the Lord their God;
            I will respond to them.