Zechariah 9:1-10:2

New International Version - UK

Judgment on Israel’s enemies

9 A prophecy:

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
    and will come to rest on Damascus –
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
    are on the Lord – ^[a]
²and on Hamath too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre and Sidon, though they are very skilful.
³Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.
⁴But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.
⁵Ashkelon 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.
⁶A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.
⁷I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
⁸But I will encamp at my temple
    to guard it against marauding forces.
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
    for now I am keeping watch.

The coming of Zion’s king

⁹Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle-bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River^[b] to the ends of the earth.
¹¹As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹²Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
¹³I will bend Judah as I bend my bow
    and fill it with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.

The Lord will appear

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

The Lord will care for Judah

10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
    and plants of the field to everyone.
²The idols speak deceitfully,
    diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

Footnotes

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