The prophet Zechariah delivers messages from God to the Jewish community that has returned from Babylonian exile and is rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. In the preceding verses of chapter nine, Zechariah prophesies God's judgment against surrounding nations including Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia, declaring that these territories will come under divine judgment while ultimately being incorporated into God's kingdom. The prophecy describes how God will protect His house and prevent oppressors from passing through His land again, establishing His watchful presence over the restored community. This sets the stage for the promise of a coming righteous king who will bring salvation and peace. Zechariah is addressing the returned exiles in Jerusalem.
[9] “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
[10] I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.’
[11] “As for you also,
Because of the blood of your covenant,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
[12] Return to the stronghold,
You prisoners of hope.
Even today I declare
That I will restore double to you.
[13] For I have bent Judah, My bow,
Fitted the bow with Ephraim,
And raised up your sons, O Zion,
Against your sons, O Greece,
And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”
[14] Then the Lord will be seen over them,
And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
And go with whirlwinds from the south.
[15] The Lord of hosts will defend them;
They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.
They shall drink and roar as if with wine;
They shall be filled with blood like basins,
Like the corners of the altar.
[16] The Lord their God will save them in that day,
As the flock of His people.
For they shall be like the jewels of a crown,
Lifted like a banner over His land—
The Israelites have been enslaved in Egypt for generations, and God has appeared to Moses in a burning bush at Mount Horeb, commissioning him to lead the people out of bondage. Moses has expressed reluctance and made several objections, but God has addressed each concern and appointed Aaron as Moses' spokesman. God has given Moses miraculous signs to perform before the elders of Israel as proof of his divine mission. Moses has returned to Egypt from Midian, reunited with Aaron, and together they have gathered the elders of Israel and performed the signs before them. The people have believed their message and worshiped God upon hearing that He has seen their affliction and will deliver them. Now Moses and Aaron are preparing to confront Pharaoh with God's demand to release the Israelites.
[21] And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. [22] Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. [23] So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
[24] And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. [25] Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” [26] So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
[27] And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. [28] So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. [29] Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. [30] And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. [31] So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
[1] Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
[2] And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
[3] So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”