The Burden against Israel’s Enemies 1The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and its respite in Damascus. For the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is of the Lord. 2Hamath also is at its limits, and Tyre and Sidon. For, of course, they have assumed themselves to be exceedingly wise. 3And Tyre has built herself a fortress, and she has piled together silver, as if it were soil, and gold, as if it were the mud of the streets. 4Behold, the Lord will possess her, and he will strike her strength in the sea, and she will be devoured by fire. 5Ashkelon will see and be afraid. Both Gaza and he will be very sorrowful, as well as Ekron, because her hope has been confounded. And the king will pass away from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited. 6And the divider will sit in Ashdod, and I will scatter the arrogance of the Philistines. 7And I will take away his blood from his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth, and yet he will be left for our God, and he will be like a governor in Judah, and Ekron will be like a Jebusite. 8And I will encircle my house with those who serve me in war, going and returning, and the exactor will no longer pass over them. For now I have seen with my eyes. Zion’s Coming King 9Rejoice well, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King will come to you: the Just One, the Savior. He is poor and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt, the son of a donkey. 10And I will scatter the four-horse chariot out of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be destroyed. And he will speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power will be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth. 11You, likewise, by the blood of your testimony, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit, in which there is no water. 12Turn back to the fortress, prisoners of hope. Today, I also announce that I will repay you double, 13because I have stretched out Judah for myself, like a bow; I have filled Ephraim. And I will raise up your sons, Zion, above your sons, Greece. And I will set you as the sword of the strength. The LORD Will Save His People 14And the Lord God will be seen over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning. And the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and he will go forth into the whirlwind of the South. 15The Lord of hosts will protect them. And they will devour and subdue with the stones of the sling. And, when drinking, they will become inebriated, as if with wine, and they will be filled like bowls and like the horns of the altar. 16And in that day, the Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people. For holy stones will be lifted up over his land. 17For what is his goodness and what is his beauty, other than grain among the elect and wine springing forth virgins? |
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