Power Without Violence

¹A revelation. The LORD’s word is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus— for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward the LORD—

²and Hamath, also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

³Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁷I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

⁸I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

⁹Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.

¹²Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

¹³For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have loaded the bow with Ephraim. I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

¹⁴The LORD will be seen over them. His arrow will flash like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵The LORD of Armies will defend them. They will destroy and overcome with sling stones. They will drink, and roar as through wine. They will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶The LORD their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land.

¹⁷For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

¹Ask of the LORD rain in the spring time, the LORD who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.

²For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.

³My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats, for the LORD of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.

⁴From him will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.

⁵They will be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle. They will fight, because the LORD is with them. The riders on horses will be confounded.

⁶“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, for I have mercy on them. They will be as though I had not cast them off, for I am the LORD their God, and I will hear them.

⁷Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine. Yes, their children will see it and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in the LORD.

⁸I will signal for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them. They will increase as they were before.

⁹I will sow them among the peoples. They will remember me in far countries. They will live with their children and will return.

¹⁰I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and there won’t be room enough for them.

¹¹He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.

¹²I will strengthen them in the LORD. They will walk up and down in his name,” says the LORD.

¹Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.

²Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.

³A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed—a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

⁴The LORD my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter.

⁵Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them.

⁶For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”

⁷So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock.

⁸I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

⁹Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.”

¹⁰I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

¹¹It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the LORD’s word.

¹²I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

¹³The LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the LORD’s house.

¹⁴Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵The LORD said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

¹⁶For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.

¹⁷Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”