1
The burden of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
and g Damascus is its resting place.
For the Lord has an eye on mankind
and on all the tribes of Israel, 1
2
h and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
i Tyre and i Sidon, though j they are very wise.
3
Tyre has built herself k a rampart
and l heaped up silver like dust,
and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
4
But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
and strike down m her power on the sea,
and n she shall be devoured by fire.
5
o Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;
6
p a mixed people 2 shall dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
7
I will take away q its blood from its mouth,
and r its abominations from between its teeth;
s it too shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like t a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
8
Then u I will encamp at my house as a guard,
v so that none shall march to and fro;
w no oppressor shall again march over them,
x for now I see with my own eyes.
9
y Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
z Behold, a your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
b humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10
c I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and d the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and e he shall speak peace to the nations;
f his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from g the River to the ends of the earth.
11
As for you also, because of h the blood of my covenant with you,
i I will set your prisoners free from j the waterless pit.
12
Return to your stronghold, O k prisoners of hope;
today I declare that l I will restore to you double.
13
For m I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, n O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior's sword.
14
Then the Lord will appear over them,
and o his arrow will go forth like lightning;
p the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in q the whirlwinds r of the south.
15
The Lord of hosts s will protect them,
and t they shall devour, u and tread down the sling stones,
and v they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a bowl,
drenched w like the corners of the altar.
16
On that day the Lord their God will save them,
as x the flock of his people;
for y like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.
17
z For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
a Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.