1   An oracle: the word of the Lord.

  He has come to the land of Hadrach
  and ^note established himself in Damascus;
    for the capital city ^note of Aram ^note is the Lord's,
    as are all the tribes of Israel.
   2    ^note Sidon has closed her frontier against Hamath,
    for she is very wary.
   3   Tyre has built herself a rampart;
  she has heaped up silver like dust
    and gold like mud in the streets.
   4   But wait, the Lord will dispossess her
  and strike down the power of her ships,
  and the city itself will be destroyed by fire.
   5   Let 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;
   6   half-breeds shall settle in Ashdod,
  and I will uproot the pride of the Philistine.

Judah's triumph over her enemies
   7   I will dash the blood of sacrifices from his mouth
  and his loathsome offerings from his teeth;
  and his survivors shall belong ^note to our God
  and become like a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron like a Jebusite.
   8   And 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.]


   9   Rejoice, rejoice, daughter of Zion,
  shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem;
  for see, your king is coming to you,
  his cause won, his victory gained,
  humble ^note and mounted on an ass,
  on a foal, the young of a she-ass.
   10   He ^note 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.


   11   And as for you, by your covenant with me sealed in blood
  I release your prisoners from the dungeon. ^note
12   (Come back to the stronghold, you prisoners who wait in hope.)
  Now is the day announced
  when I will grant you twofold ^note reparation.
   13   For my bow is strung, O Judah;
  I have laid the arrow to it, O Ephraim;
  I have roused your sons, O Zion, ^note
  and made you into the sword of a warrior.
   14   The 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.
   15   The Lord of Hosts will be their shield;
  they shall prevail, ^note 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.
   16   So on that day the Lord their God

Judah's triumph over her enemies
  will save them, his own people, like sheep,
    setting them all about his land,
    like ^note jewels set to sparkle in a crown.


     17   What wealth, what beauty, is theirs:
  corn to strengthen young men,
    and new wine for maidens!

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