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Zechariah 9
International Standard Version

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

9 A declaration: this message from the Lord in the land of Hadrach,[a]
    with Damascus its confederate,[b]
because the eyes of humanity[c] will look to[d] the Lord,
    along with those of[e] all the tribes of Israel.
2 Also Hamath, which borders on it—
    along with Tyre and Sidon—
        indeed they are very wise.

3 “Tyre built itself a fortification,
    hoarding silver like dust
        and pure gold like mud in a street.
4 Look! The Lord will evict her,
    striking at her power in the sea,
        and she will be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see it happen and will be terrified;
    Gaza will tremble greatly.
Ekron will be ashamed of her expectations,
    Gaza’s king will perish,
        and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.
6 A strange people[f] will inhabit Ashdod,
    and I will eliminate the arrogance of Philistia.
7 I will remove the blood from its mouth,
    along with its abominations from between its teeth.
Its survivors will be dedicated to our God;
    It will be like a clan of Judah,
        and Ekron will be as a Jebusite.[g]
8 I will set a garrison around my Temple,
    to hinder those who might come and go,
and to guard against oppressors who intend to invade;
    for I have taken note of this with my eyes.”

The Coming of Zion’s King

9 “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion;
    cry out, daughter of Jerusalem!
Look! Your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous,
        and he is able to save.
He is humble,
    and is riding on a colt,
        the foal of a donkey.
10 I will banish[h] chariots from Ephraim
    and horses from Jerusalem.
War weapons[i] will be banished,
    and your king[j] will speak peace to the nations.
His dominion will extend from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the farthest portion of the earth.

11 Now concerning you and my blood covenant with you,
    I have liberated your prisoners
        from a waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners who have hope.
    Even today I am telling you:
        In return I will repay you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as if it were my bow,
    loading it with Ephraim.
I raised up your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,
        wielding you like a mighty warrior’s sword.”

Israel’s Lord Appears

14 The Lord will appear over them—
    his arrow will shoot like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
    and go out with the southern windstorm.
15 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies will defend them;
    they will devour and conquer those who sling stones.
They will drink and be boisterous like those who are drunk.
    They will be filled to the brim with blood,[k]
        like the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save them at that time[l]
    as his very own flock of people,
because they are his crown jewels,
    exalted throughout his land.
17 For how great is his goodness,
    and how great is his beauty!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the virgins.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 I.e. a district near Damascus
  2. Zechariah 9:1 Cf. Isa 7:2; or resting place
  3. Zechariah 9:1 Or Aram
  4. Zechariah 9:1 Lit. will be on
  5. Zechariah 9:1 The Heb. lacks those of
  6. Zechariah 9:6 Lit. A bastard
  7. Zechariah 9:7 I.e. a Jerusalemite
  8. Zechariah 9:10 Lit. will cut off
  9. Zechariah 9:10 Lit. The war bow
  10. Zechariah 9:10 Lit. and he
  11. Zechariah 9:15 The Heb. lacks with blood
  12. Zechariah 9:16 Lit. day
Close LEB

Zechariah 9
Lexham English Bible

9 An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach,

and Damascus is its resting place.
    For to Yahweh belongs the eye of humankind,[a]
        and all the tribes of Israel,
2 and also Hamath, which borders on it;
    Tyre and Sidon—yes, they are very wise![b]
3 Tyre has built a fortification for itself,[c]
    and it heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the mud of the streets.
4 Look! The Lord will drive it[d] out
    and will hurl its[e] outer ramparts into the sea,
        and it[f] will be consumed by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see and will be afraid,
    and Gaza will writhe exceedingly,
    and Ekron also, because its hope is ruined.[g]
And the king from Gaza will perish,
    and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
6 A mongrel people[h] will dwell in Ashdod,
    and I will cut down the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will remove its[i] blood from its[j] mouth,
    and its[k] abominations from between its[l] teeth.
And it[m] too will be a remnant for our God;
    and it[n] will be like a tribal chief[o] in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusite.
8 But I will encamp at my temple[p] like a guard,
    against those crossing through and returning;
no oppressor will cross through them again,
    for now I have seen with my own eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Look! Your king comes to you;
    he is righteous and victorious,
humble and riding on a donkey,
    and on a male donkey, the foal of[q] a female donkey!
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
    and the horse from Jerusalem;
the battle bow will be cut down,
    and he will announce peace to the nations.
His dominion will be from sea to sea,
    and from the River[r] to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant,
    I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.[s]
12 Return to the fortress,
    O prisoners of hope;
today I am declaring that I will repay you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have set Ephraim as an arrow.
I will set in motion your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Javan.[t]
I will wield you like the sword of a warrior.
14 Then Yahweh will appear over them,
    and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
and my Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet,
    and he shall go out in the storm winds of the south.
15 Yahweh of hosts will defend them,
    and they will devour and subdue the slingstones;[u]
they will drink, they will make noise[v] like wine,
    and they will be full like the sacrificial basin,[w]
    drenched like the corners of an altar.
16 And Yahweh their God will save them on that day,
    as the flock of his people;
for they are like the stones of a diadem,
    glittering on his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 “Eye of humankind” is difficult to understand in this context; some scholars emend the phrase to “cities of Aram” or “capital of Aram”
  2. Zechariah 9:2 That is, wise in their own eyes (ironic)
  3. Zechariah 9:3 Hebrew “her”
  4. Zechariah 9:4 Hebrew “her”
  5. Zechariah 9:4 Hebrew “her”
  6. Zechariah 9:4 Hebrew “she”
  7. Zechariah 9:5 Traditionally “ashamed”; some presuppose a different Hebrew form and translate “withered”
  8. Zechariah 9:6 That is, a people of mixed marriage; “half-breeds”
  9. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “his”
  10. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “his”
  11. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “his”
  12. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “his”
  13. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “he”
  14. Zechariah 9:7 Hebrew “he”
  15. Zechariah 9:7 This word is sometimes interpreted as “clan”
  16. Zechariah 9:8 Or “house”
  17. Zechariah 9:9 Literally “the son of ”
  18. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  19. Zechariah 9:11 Literally “the cistern there is not water in him”
  20. Zechariah 9:13 That is, Greece
  21. Zechariah 9:15 Perhaps metonymy for the slingers of stones
  22. Zechariah 9:15 LXX reads “they will drink blood like wine”
  23. Zechariah 9:15 That is, the ceremonial bowl used by the priest for sprinkling blood
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Zechariah 8
Zechariah 10
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