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Zechariah 9 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Israel's Enemies Will Be Punished

9 ^(A)^(B) This is a message
    from the Lord:
His eyes are on everyone,
especially the tribes
    of Israel.^[a]
So he pronounces judgment
against the cities
    of Hadrach and Damascus.^[b]
²Judgment will also fall
on the nearby city
    of Hamath,
as well as on Tyre and Sidon,^[c]
    whose people are clever.
³Tyre has built a fortress
    and piled up silver and gold,
as though they were dust
    or mud from the streets.
⁴Now the Lord will punish Tyre
    with poverty;
he will sink its ships
    and send it up in flames.

⁵^(C) Both Ashkelon and Gaza
will tremble with fear;
    Ekron will lose all hope.
Gaza's king will be killed,
and Ashkelon emptied
    of its people.
⁶A mob of half-breeds
    will settle in Ashdod,^[d]
and the Lord himself
    will rob Philistia of pride.

⁷No longer will the Philistines
eat meat with blood in it
    or any unclean food.^[e]
They will become part
of the people of our God
    from the tribe of Judah.
And God will accept
the people of Ekron,
    as he did the Jebusites.^[f]

⁸God says, “I will stand guard
to protect my temple from those
who come to attack.
I know what's happening,
and no one will mistreat
my people ever again.”

The Lord Tells about the Coming King

⁹^(D) Everyone in Jerusalem,
    celebrate and shout!
Your king has won a victory,
    and he is coming to you.
He is humble
    and rides on a donkey;
he comes on the colt
    of a donkey.
¹⁰^(E) I, the Lord, will take away
war chariots and horses
    from Israel^[g] and Jerusalem.
Bows that were made for battle
    will be broken.
I will bring peace to nations,
and your king will rule
    from sea to sea.
His kingdom will reach
from the Euphrates River
    across the earth.

The Lord Promises To Rescue Captives

¹¹^(F) When I made a sacred agreement
with you, my people,
    we sealed it with blood.^[h]
Now some of you are captives
    in waterless pits,
but I will come to your rescue
¹²    and offer you hope.
Return to your fortress,
because today I will reward you
    with twice what you had.
¹³I will use Judah as my bow
    and Israel^[i] as my arrow.
I will take the people of Zion
as my sword
    and attack the Greeks.

The Lord Will Protect His People

¹⁴Like a cloud, the Lord God
    will appear over his people,
and his arrows will flash
    like lightning.
God will sound his trumpet
and attack in a whirlwind
    from the south.
¹⁵The Lord All-Powerful
    will protect his people,
and they will trample down
the sharpshooters
    and their slingshots.
They will drink and get rowdy;
they will be as full as a bowl
    at the time of sacrifice.

¹⁶The Lord God will save them
on that day,
    because they are his people,
and they will shine on his land
    like jewels in a crown.
¹⁷How lovely they will be.
Young people will grow there
    like grain in a field
    or grapes in a vineyard.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)