Zechariah 9

Judgment on Israel's Enemies

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.

The Coming King of Zion

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.

The Lord Will Save His People

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.

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:1
    An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 49:23
    Concerning Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
    1 Kings 8:65
    So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.
  3. Cross References
    Joshua 19:28 - 29
    Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great.
    Isaiah 23:1 - 2
    The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.
  4. Cross References
    Joshua 19:28 - 29
    Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great.
    Isaiah 23:1 - 2
    The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 28:3 - 5
    You are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you.
  6. Cross References
    Joshua 19:29
    Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib.
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 28:4 - 5
    By your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries.
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 26:17
    And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you, "'How you have perished, you who were inhabited from the seas, O city renowned, who was mighty on the sea; she and her inhabitants imposed their terror on all her inhabitants!
  9. Cross References
    Ezekiel 28:18
    By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.
  10. Cross References
    Zephaniah 2:4
    For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 23:2
    No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.
  12. Cross References
    Leviticus 3:17
    It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 66:17
    Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:1
    For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
  15. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:5 - 6
    Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.
  16. Cross References
    Zechariah 2:5
    And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.'
  17. Cross References
    Zechariah 7:14
    "and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate."
  18. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:4
    From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler - all of them together.
    Isaiah 60:17
    Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness.
  19. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:4
    On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
  20. Cross References
    Zephaniah 3:14
    Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
  21. Cross References
    Matthew 21:5
    "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"
    John 12:15
    "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"
  22. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:5
    Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
  23. Cross References
    Matthew 11:29
    Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
  24. Cross References
    Hosea 1:7
    But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.
  25. Cross References
    Micah 5:10
    And in that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots.
  26. Cross References
    Micah 5:5
    And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.
  27. Cross References
    Psalms 72:8
    May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
  28. Cross References
    Exodus 23:31
    And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
  29. Cross References
    Exodus 24:8
    And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
  30. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:7
    To open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
    Isaiah 51:14
    He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking.
    Isaiah 61:1
    The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
  31. Cross References
    Genesis 37:24
    And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
    Jeremiah 38:6
    So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
  32. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:17
    There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country.
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 61:7
    Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.
  34. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:3 - 4
    My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
  35. Cross References
    Genesis 10:2
    The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
    Ezekiel 27:13
    Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
  36. Cross References
    2 Samuel 22:15
    And he sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them.
  37. Cross References
    Isaiah 27:13
    And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
  38. Cross References
    Isaiah 21:1
    The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land.
  39. Cross References
    Zechariah 6:6
    The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.
  40. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:8
    On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them.
    Zechariah 10:5
    They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
  41. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:6
    On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.
  42. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:5
    They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.
  43. Cross References
    Zechariah 10:7
    Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.
  44. Cross References
    Leviticus 4:18
    And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
    Leviticus 4:25
    Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
  45. Cross References
    Psalms 100:3
    Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  46. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:3
    You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
    Malachi 3:17
    They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.
  47. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:3 - 4
    You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
  48. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:8 - 9
    The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored.
    Jeremiah 31:12
    They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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