Zechariah 9 - 10, Revelation 18, Song of Songs 4

Yahweh’s Oracle Against Israel’s Enemies

9The ¹oracle of the word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, with ^aDamascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward Yahweh),

²And ^aHamath also, which borders on it;^bAnd Tyre and ^cSidon, ¹because ²they are ^dvery wise.³So Tyre built herself a ^atight fortificationAnd ^btied up silver like dustAnd ^cfine gold like the mire of the streets.⁴Behold, the Lord will ^adispossess herAnd strike her wealth down into the sea;And she will be ^bconsumed with fire.⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.Gaza too will writhe in great pain;Also Ekron, for her hope has been put to shame.Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.⁶And those of illegitimate birth will inhabit ^aAshdod,And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouthAnd their detestable things from between their teeth.Then they also will be a remnant for our God,And be like a ¹clan in Judah,And Ekron like a Jebusite.⁸But I will camp around My house ¹because of an army,Because of ^ahim who passes by and returns;And ^bno taskmaster will pass over them anymore,For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King of Zion

⁹^aRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, your ^bking is coming to you;He is ¹^,^crighteous and ^dendowed with salvation,²^,^eLowly and mounted on a donkey,Even on a ³^,^fcolt, the ⁴foal of a pack animal.¹⁰I will ^acut off the chariot from EphraimAnd the ^bhorse from Jerusalem;And the ^cbow of war will be cut off.And He will speak ^dpeace to the nations;And His ^ereign will be from sea to seaAnd from the ¹River to the ends of the earth.¹¹As for you also, because of the ^ablood of your covenant,I have set your ^bprisoners free from the ¹waterless pit.¹²Return to the ¹^,^astronghold, O prisoners ²who have the ^bhope;This very day I am declaring that I will return ^cdouble to you.¹³For I will ^abend Judah ¹as My bow;I will fill the bow with Ephraim.And I will rouse up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O ²^,^bGreece;And I will make you like a ^cmighty man’s sword.¹⁴Then Yahweh will appear ^aover them,And His ^barrow will go forth like lightning;And Lord Yahweh will blow the ^ctrumpetAnd will go in the ^dstorm winds of the south.¹⁵^aYahweh of hosts will defend them.And they will ^bconsume and trample on the ^cstones of a sling;And they will drink and ^droar as with wine;And they will be filled like a sacrificial bowl,Drenched like the ^ecorners of the altar.¹⁶And Yahweh their God will ^asave them in that dayAs the flock of His people;For they are as the stones of a ^bcrown,¹Sparkling in His land.¹⁷For what ^agoodness and ^bwhat beauty will be ¹theirs!Grain will make the choice men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

Yahweh Will Redeem Judah and Israel

10Ask ^arain from Yahweh at the time of the ¹late rain—Yahweh who ^bmakes the ²storm clouds;And He will give them ^cshowers of rain, the plant in the field to each man.²For the ^ateraphim speak wickedness,And the ^bdiviners behold ¹false visionsAnd speak ^cworthless dreams;They comfort in vain.Therefore the people journey like ^dsheep;They are afflicted because there is no shepherd.³“My ^aanger burns against the shepherds,And I will visit punishment upon the ¹male goats;For Yahweh of hosts has ^bvisited His flock, the house of Judah,And will make them like His splendid horse in battle.⁴“From ¹them will come the ^acornerstone,From ²them the tent peg,From ³them the bow of ⁴^,^bbattle,From ⁵them every good ⁶taskmaster, all of them together.⁵“And they will be as mighty men,^aTreading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle;And they will battle, for Yahweh will be with them;And the ^briders on horses will be put to shame.⁶“I will ^amake the house of Judah mighty,And I will ^bsave the house of Joseph,And I will ¹^,^ccause them to return,Because I have had ^dcompassion on them;And they will be as though I had ^enot rejected them,For I am Yahweh their God, and I will ^fanswer them.⁷“And Ephraim will be like a mighty man,And their heart will be glad as if from wine;Indeed, their ^achildren will see it and be glad;¹Their heart will rejoice in Yahweh.⁸“I will ^awhistle for them to gather them together,For I have redeemed them;And they will be as ^bnumerous as they ^cwere ¹before.⁹“And I will sow them among the peoples,And they will ^aremember Me in far countries,And they with their children will live and turn back.¹⁰“Then I will cause them to ^areturn from the land of EgyptAnd gather them from Assyria;And I will bring them into the land of ^bGilead and Lebanon¹Until ^cno room can be found for them.¹¹“And ¹they will pass through the ^asea of distress,And He will strike the waves in the sea,So that all the depths of the ^bNile will dry up;And the pride of ^cAssyria will be brought down,And the scepter of ^dEgypt will depart.¹²“And I will ^amake them mighty in Yahweh,And in His name ^bthey will walk,” declares Yahweh.

Fallen Is Babylon

18After these things I saw another ^aangel ^bcoming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^cillumined with his glory. ²And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “¹^,^aFallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she ^bhas become a dwelling place of demons and a ²prison of every ^cunclean spirit, and a ³prison of every unclean bird ⁴and a ⁵prison of every unclean and hateful beast. ³“For all the nations ¹have drunk of the ^awine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, and ^bthe kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the ^cmerchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her ²^,^dsensuality.”

⁴And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^aCome out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; ⁵for her sins have ¹^,^apiled up as high as heaven, and God has ^bremembered her iniquities. ⁶“^aPay her back even as she paid, and ¹give her back double according to her deeds; in the ^bcup which she has mixed, mix double for her. ⁷“^aTo the degree that she glorified herself and ^blived ¹sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning, for she says in her heart, ‘^cI sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸“For this reason ^ain one day her plagues will come, ¹pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be ^bburned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^cis strong.

⁹“And ^athe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and ^blived ¹sensuously with her, will ^ccry and lament over her when they ^dsee the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰^astanding at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^bWoe, woe, ^cthe great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^done hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹“And the ^amerchants of the earth ^bcry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore— ¹²cargo of ^agold and silver and precious ¹stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from precious wood and ²bronze and iron and marble, ¹³and cinnamon and amomum and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargo of horses and carriages and ¹human beings and ²^,^ahuman lives. ¹⁴“And the fruit ¹you long for has gone from you, and all things that were splendid and shining have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. ¹⁵“The ^amerchants of ^bthese things, who became rich from her, will ^cstand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, crying and mourning, ¹⁶saying, ‘^aWoe, woe, ^bthe great city, she who ^cwas clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ¹adorned with gold and precious ²stones and pearls; ¹⁷for in ^aone hour such great wealth has been laid ^bwaste!’ And ^cevery shipmaster and every ¹passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, ^dstood at a distance, ¹⁸and were ^acrying out as they ^bsaw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^cWhat is like ^dthe great city?’ ¹⁹“And they threw ^adust on their heads and were crying out, crying and mourning, saying, ‘^bWoe, woe, the great city, in which all who have ships at sea ^cbecame rich by her ¹wealth, for in ^done hour she has been laid ^ewaste!’ ²⁰“^aRejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and ^bapostles and prophets, because ^cGod has ¹pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹Then ¹a ^astrong angel ^bpicked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^cthe great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^dwill not be found any longer. ²²“And ^athe sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the ^bsound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; ²³and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the ^avoice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your ^bmerchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^cby your sorcery. ²⁴“And in her was found the ^ablood of prophets and of saints and of ^ball who have been slain on the earth.”

Solomon Praises the Beauty of His Bride

4“¹Behold, you are beautiful, ^amy darling,Behold, you are beautiful!Your ^beyes are like doves ^cbehind your veil;Your ^dhair is like a flock of goatsThat have leapt down from Mount ^eGilead.²“Your ^ateeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewesWhich have come up from their washing,All of which bear twins,And not one among them has ¹lost her young.³“Your lips are like a ^ascarlet thread,And your ^bmouth is lovely.Your ^ctemples are like a slice of a pomegranateBehind your veil.⁴“Your ^aneck is like the tower of David,Built ¹with rows of stonesOn which are ^bhung one thousand shields,All the small ^cshields of the mighty men.⁵“Your ^atwo breasts are like two fawns,Twins of a gazelleWhich ¹^,^bfeed among the lilies.⁶“^aUntil the day breathesAnd the shadows flee,I will go my way to the mountain of ^bmyrrhAnd to the hill of ^cfrankincense.⁷“^aYou are altogether beautiful, my darling,And there is no blemish in you.⁸“Come with me from ^aLebanon, my ^bbride,May you come with me from Lebanon.¹Journey down from the top of ^cAmana,From the top of ^dSenir and Hermon,From the dens of lions,From the mountains of leopards.⁹“You have made my heart beat faster, ^amy sister, my bride;You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes,With a single strand of your ^bnecklace.¹⁰“^aHow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!How much ^bbetter is your love than wine,And the ^cfragrance of your oilsThan all kinds of ¹spices!¹¹“Your lips, my bride, ^adrip ^bhoney from the comb;Honey and milk are under your tongue,And the fragrance of your garments is like the ^cfragrance of Lebanon.¹²“A garden locked is my sister, my bride,A ¹rock garden locked, a ^aspring ^bsealed up.¹³“Your shoots are ¹an ^aorchard of ^bpomegranatesWith ^cchoice fruits, ^dhenna with nard plants,¹⁴^aNard and saffron, calamus and ^bcinnamon,With all the trees of ^cfrankincense,^dMyrrh and aloes, along with all the finest ¹spices.¹⁵“You are a garden spring,A well of ¹^,^afresh water,And streams flowing from Lebanon.”¹⁶“¹Awake, O north wind,And come, wind of the south;Make my ^agarden breathe out fragrance,Let its ²spices flow forth.May ^bmy beloved come into his gardenAnd eat its ^cchoice fruits!”