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Judgement on Israel’s Enemies

9An Oracle.

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
   and will rest upon Damascus.
For to the Lord belongs the capital^* of Aram,^*
   as do all the tribes of Israel;
² Hamath also, which borders on it,
   Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
³ Tyre has built itself a rampart,
   and heaped up silver like dust,
   and gold like the dirt of the streets.
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.

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;
⁶ a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,
   and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.
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.
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.

The Coming Ruler of God’s People

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
   Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
   triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ He^* will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
   and the warhorse 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.

¹¹ As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
   I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
   today I declare that I will restore to you double.
¹³ For I have bent Judah as my bow;
   I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
   against your sons, O Greece,
   and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

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.
¹⁵ The Lord of hosts will protect them,
   and they shall devour and tread down the slingers;^*
they shall drink their blood^* like wine,
   and be full like a bowl,
   drenched like the corners of the altar.

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.
¹⁷ For what goodness and beauty are his!
   Grain shall make the young men flourish,
   and new wine the young women.