The Lord will punish the nations
1The Lord talked to Zechariah.
The Lord is angry with the people
of the land of Hadrak
and the people from the city of Damascus
and He says harsh words to them.
Everyone is looking to see
what the Lord will do and
what the tribes_of_Israel are doing.
He sees what all people do.
2He is also angry with the people
of Hamath near Damascus,
and the people of Tyre and Sidon,
the people who think they are very clever.
3The people of Tyre have built strong walls
around their city and they have become very rich.
They have a lot of silver and gold,
as much as the grains of sand and mud in the streets.
4The Lord will now take everything
that the people have
and He will destroy all the boats
of the city of Tyre.
The city will be destroyed by fire.
5The people of the cities
of Ashkelon and Gaza
will see what happens to the city of Tyre
and they will be afraid.
The people of the city of Ekron
will also become afraid when they see
that nothing and no one can help them.
The city of Gaza will no longer have a king
and there will be no more people living in Ashkelon.
6There will be other people living in the city of Ashdod.
The Lord says: ‘I will take away everything
that made the Philistines proud.
7They will no longer eat meat with blood in it
and give offerings to their idols.
The Philistines who are still_alive
will also belong to our God.
They will be like family to the people of Judah.
The people of Ekron will be like the Jebusites
who lived among the people of Judah.
8The Lord says He will protect his temple.
There will be no more enemies
coming to the city of Jerusalem.
No one will oppress the people of Jerusalem,
because the Lord will take care of them.’
There will be a king
9The Lord says: ‘People of Jerusalem,
you must be very happy and rejoice
because your king is coming to you.
He is fair and I will always help him.
He is not an important man. He rides on a donkey.
10I will destroy their war-chariots
and I will kill their horses.
I will break the bows_and_arrows
that the people of Ephraim
and Jerusalem use to make war.
Then the king will make peace with the other nations.
He will rule them,
from the Dead Sea to the big sea
and from the Euphrates River to the end of the world.’
The Lord will save his people
11The Lord also says: ‘My people,
I have made a covenant with you
and I have sprinkled blood on you.
That is why I will bring your people back home.
Other nations have caught them
and have taken them to other lands
and have thrown them into empty water-wells.
I will now send them back to you.
12I will tell them:
“You who kept on hoping that I would help you,
you can come back to your city with strong walls.
I promise that I will give my people
twice as much as they had before.”
13Yes, my people must come back
because they must be my weapons
against the Greeks.
The people of Judah and Jerusalem
will be my bows and my swords.
I will use them to make war.’
The Lord will protect his people
14The Lord will appear in the sky above his people.
He will shoot his arrows like lightning.
The Lord will blow the trumpet
and He will come in a storm wind from the south.
15The Lord who rules over all
will protect his people.
They will use slings to defeat their enemies.
The stones from their slings
will become full of blood,
like the bowls at the altar
and like the corners of the altar.
The enemies will hear the stones coming.
It will be like the noise of people
who have had too much wine to drink.
16The Lord is the God of his people
and they belong to Him.
He will come on that day to save his people
and they will live in his land.
They will shine like beautiful gemstones
in a king's crown.
17All will be well in the land,
and the land will be beautiful.
There will be a lot of wheat and wine.
It will make the young men and girls strong and healthy.
