1An oracle: the word of the LORD. He has come to the land of Hadrach
2 Sidon has closed her frontier against Hamath,
and established himself in Damascus;
for the capital city of Aram is the LORD's,
as are all the tribes of Israel.
for she is very wary.
3Tyre has built herself a rampart,
she has heaped up silver like dust
and gold like mud in the streets.
4But wait, the Lord will dispossess her
and strike down the power of her ships,
and the city itself will be destroyed by fire.
5Let Ashkelon see it and be afraid;
Gaza shall writhe in terror,
and Ekron's hope shall be extinguished;
kings shall vanish from Gaza,
and Ashkelon shall be unpeopled;
6half-breeds shall settle in Ashdod,
and I will uproot the pride of the Philistine.
7I will dash the blood of sacrifices from his mouth
and his loathsome offerings from his teeth;
and his survivors shall belong to our God
and become like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron like a Jebusite.
8And I will post a garrison for my house
so that no one may pass in or out,
and no oppressor shall ever overrun them.
{This I have lived to see with my own eyes.}
9Rejoice, rejoice, daughter of Zion,
shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem;
for see, your king is coming to you,
his cause won, his victory gained,
humble and mounted on an ass,
on a foal, the young of a she-ass.
10He shall banish chariots from Ephraim
and war-horses from Jerusalem;
the warrior's bow shall be banished.
He shall speak peaceably to every nation,
and his rule shall extend from sea to sea,
from the River to the ends of the earth.
11And as for you, by your covenant with me sealed in blood
I release your prisoners from the dungeon .
12(Come back to the stronghold, you prisoners who wait in hope.)
Now is the day announced
when I will grant you twofold reparation.
13For my bow is strung, O Judah;
I have laid the arrow to it, O Ephraim;
I have roused your sons, O Zion ,
and made you into the sword of a warrior.
14The LORD shall appear above them,
and his arrow shall flash like lightning;
the Lord GOD shall blow a blast on the horn
and march with the storm-winds of the south.
15The LORD of Hosts will be their shield;
they shall prevail, they shall trample on the sling-stones;
they shall be roaring drunk as if with wine,
brimful as a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar.
16So on that day the LORD their God
will save them, his own people, like sheep,
setting them all about his land,
like jewels set to sparkle in a crown. 17What wealth, what beauty, is theirs:
corn to strengthen young men,
and new wine for maidens!
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