1 ARST This is another message that I received from Yahweh about the region of Hadrach and the city of Damascus, the place where they get their rest. All the eyes of the nations and the people of the tribe of Israel are all looking toward Yahweh, to see what he will say. BSB BSB: This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD—
2 ARST This message is also about the people in the region of Hamath near to Damascus, and about the people in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, people who are very wise. BSB BSB: and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.
3 ARST The people in Tyre have built a high wall around their city. They piled up huge amounts of silver and gold like other people pile up soil when they dig in the streets. BSB BSB: Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.
4 ARST But I, Yahweh, will make them lose everything, including their ships in which their men fight on the sea. Their city will burn to the ground. BSB BSB: Behold, the Lord will impoverish her and cast her wealth into the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.
5 ARST The people in the city of Ashkelon will see that happen, and they will become very afraid. The people in the city of Gaza will shake because they are terrified, and the people in the city of Ekron will shake too, because they no longer hope to escape enemies. The king of Gaza will die; no one will live any longer in Ashkelon. BSB BSB: Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited.
6 ARST Yahweh says,“Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashdod. I will no longer allow the people in all those cities of Philistia to be proud. BSB BSB: A mixed race will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 ARST I will no longer allow them to eat meat that still has blood in it, and I will forbid them to eat food that they offered to idols. At that time, the people in the region of Philistia who survive will worship me; they will become like a clan in Judah. The people of the city of Ekron will become part of my people, as the people of the city of Jebus did when the Israelites conquered them. BSB BSB: I will remove the blood from their mouths and the abominations from between their teeth. Then they too will become a remnant for our God; they will become like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
8 ARST I will protect my land, and I will not allow any enemy soldiers to enter it. No enemies will harm my people again, because I myself will be watching over them carefully. BSB BSB: But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with My own eyes.
9 ARST Rejoice very much, you people of Jerusalem and shout joyfully, because your king will be coming to you. He is righteous and victorious; he will be gentle, and he will be riding on a donkey, on a young female donkey. BSB BSB: Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 ARST I will destroy the chariots in the region of Ephraim that are used in war and all the horses in Jerusalem that they take into battle. I will break all the bows they use in wars. Your king will proclaim that he will cause things to go well and peacefully among the nations. He will rule the area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea, and from the Euphrates River to the most distant places on the earth. BSB BSB: And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
11 ARST As for you, my people of Jerusalem, because of the blood that flowed when I made my covenant with you, I will free your people whom they took to other countries, where it was as though they were prisoners in a waterless pit. BSB BSB: As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 ARST You people who were prisoners in those countries who still believe that I will help you, return to Judah, for I will defend you there. Today I declare that I will give you two blessings for each of the troubles that you have experienced. BSB BSB: Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 ARST I will cause Judah to be like my bow, and I will cause Israel to be like my arrow. I will enable you young men of Jerusalem to fight against the soldiers of Greece; you will be like a warrior’ s sword.” BSB BSB: For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
14 ARST One day Yahweh will appear in the sky above his people, and the arrows that he shoots will be like lightning bolts. Yahweh our Lord will blow his trumpet, and he will march with the powerful storms that come from the land of Teman in the south. BSB BSB: Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.
15 ARST Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will protect his people; the soldiers of Judah will attack and defeat their enemies who attack them using slings and stones. Those soldiers of Judah will drink and celebrate and shout like people who are drunk; they will be as full of wine as the bowl that holds the blood of the animals priest kill at the altar— the blood that the priests sprinkle on the corners of the altar. BSB BSB: The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 ARST On that day, Yahweh our God will save his people like a shepherd saves his flock of sheep from danger. In our land, they will be like jewels that sparkle in a crown. BSB BSB: On that day the LORD their God will save them as the flock of His people; for like jewels in a crown they will sparkle over His land.
17 ARST They will be delightful and beautiful. The young men will become strong from eating grain, and the young women will become strong from drinking new wine. BSB BSB: How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.