Zechariah 9-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
9 An Oracle.
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
and will rest upon Damascus.
For to the Lord belongs the capital[a] of Aram,[b]
as do all the tribes of Israel;
2 Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.(A)
3 Tyre has built itself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(B)
4 But now, the Lord will strip it of its possessions
and hurl its wealth into the sea,
and it shall be devoured by fire.(C)
5 Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid;
Gaza, too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are withered.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;(D)
6 a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,
and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.(E)
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it, too, shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.(F)
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that no one shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again overrun them,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.(G)
The Coming Ruler of God’s People
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(H)
10 He[c] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(I)
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.(J)
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.(K)
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.[d]
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.(L)
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.(M)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;[e]
they shall drink their blood[f] like wine
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.(N)
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
for they are the flock of his people,
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.(O)
17 For what goodness and beauty are his!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.(P)
Restoration of Judah and Israel
10 Ask rain from the Lord
in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
who gives showers of rain to you,[g]
the vegetation in the field to everyone.(Q)
2 For the teraphim[h] utter nonsense,
and the diviners see lies;
the dreamers tell false dreams
and give empty consolation.
Therefore the people[i] wander like sheep;
they suffer for lack of a shepherd.(R)
3 My anger is hot against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders,[j]
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
and will make them like his proud war horse.(S)
4 Out of them shall come the cornerstone,
out of them the tent peg,
out of them the battle bow,
out of them every commander.(T)
5 Together they shall be like warriors in battle,
trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight, for the Lord is with them,
and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.(U)
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
and they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.(V)
7 Then the people of Ephraim shall become like warriors,
and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.
Their children shall see it and rejoice;
their hearts shall exult in the Lord.(W)
8 I will signal for them and gather them in,
for I have redeemed them,
and they shall be as numerous as they were before.(X)
9 Though I scattered them among the nations,
yet in far countries they shall remember me,
and they shall rear their children and return.(Y)
10 I will bring them home from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria;
I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,
until there is no room for them.(Z)
11 They[k] shall pass through the sea of distress,
and the waves of the sea shall be struck down,
and all the depths of the Nile dried up.
The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,
and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.(AA)
12 I will make them strong in the Lord,
and they shall walk in his name,
says the Lord.(AB)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.