53Or, oracle
54Or, Jehovah hath an eye upon men and upon all the tribes of Israel)
9: 2 and Hamath, also, which bordereth thereon; Tyre and Sidon, 55because they are very wise.
55Or, though
9: 3 And 56Tyre did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
56Hb. tsor (Tyre) ... matsor (tower, stronghold),
9: 4 Behold, 57Jehovah will dispossess her, and he will smite 58her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
57Sopherim changed to the Lord
58Or, the sea which is her rampart; or, her rampart into the sea;
9: 5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also, and shall be sore pained; and Ekron, for her expectation shall be put to shame; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
9: 6 And 59a bastard shall 60dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
59Or, a bastard race shall dwell in Ashdod,
60Or, sit as king in Ashdod,
9: 7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also shall be a remnant for our God; and he shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
9: 8 And I will encamp about my house 61against the army, that none pass through or return; and no 62oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
61Sept. reads as a garrison (or, rampart),
62Or, exactor of taxes shall pass through
9: 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and 63having 64salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
63Hb. saved;
64Or, victory;
9: 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of its land.
9: 11 As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water.
9: 12 65Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render 66double unto thee.
65Or, Return
66Hb. mishneh: a repetition, a copy; a second in rank
9: 13 For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O 67Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man.
67Hb. Javan ( from which Javania, or, Ionia)
9: 14 And Jehovah shall be seen over them; and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.
9: 15 Jehovah of hosts will defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.
9: 16 And Jehovah their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they shall be as the stones of a crown, 68lifted on high over his land.
68Or, glittering upon high
9: 17 For how great is 69his 70goodness, and how great is his beauty! grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
69Or, their (both times)
70Or, prosperity,
