The Peace and Worldwide Renown of Zion

4 In the days to come

the mountain of the Lord will be established,

the house of our God on the top of the mountain,

lifted above the hills.

All the nations will flow to it,

2 and many peoples will go and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mount,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

so that he may instruct us in his ways,

so that we may walk in his paths.’

For from Zion proceeds instruction

and the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.

3 He will arbitrate between many peoples,

and render decisions for numerous nations,

They will beat their swords into ploughshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

they will learn war no more.

4 They will live each under his vine,

and under his fig tree, with none to terrify them.

For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5 Each nation trusts in the names of their gods,

but we will worship the Lord our God forever.

6 ‘On that day,’ says the Lord,

‘I will assemble the lame.

I will gather exiles I punished.

7 I will restore the lame as a remnant,

the exiles into a great nation.

The Lord will rule over them

on Mount Zion from that time forever.’

8 But you, watchtower for the flock,

hill of the daughter of Zion,

to you will return your former rule.

9 So why do you now cry aloud? Haven’t you any king?

Or has your counsellor perished, so you writhe in pain like a woman in labour?

10 Writhe and scream, daughter of Zion, like a woman in labour!

For now you must leave the city and camp in the open field.

You will be taken to Babylon, but there will be rescued.

There the Lord will save you from the hands of your foes.

11 But now many nations gather against you.

They say, ‘Let her be defiled, we will gloat over Zion.’

12 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord.

They do not understand his plan,

for he has gathered them like sheaves for the threshing floor.

13 ‘Arise, thresh, daughter of Zion.

I will make your horns iron,

and your hoofs brass,

so you might beat in pieces many peoples,

and devote to the Lord their spoil,

and their wealth to the ruler of all the earth.

5 ‘Now cut yourself in bitter grief,

daughter besieged by soldiers.

They have set a wall around you.

They strike the ruler of Israel,

in the face with a rod.

2 ‘Bethlehem in Ephrathah,

small among the tribes of Judah,

from you will come a king

who will rule for me over Israel,

whose family line goes back to the distant past.’

3 So the Lord will only abandon Israel to its enemies

until the woman in labour gives birth.

Then the survivors will be reunited with their own people.

4 And he will stand and shepherd by the strength of the Lord,

In the exalted name of the Lord his God;

And they will live in security, for now he will be great,

even to the ends of the earth.

5 This will be our peace:

when Assyria comes into our land

and treads on our soil,

we will raise up against him seven shepherds,

eight leaders of men.

6 They will shepherd Assyria with a sword,

and the land of Nimrod with bared blades.

They will deliver us from Assyria,

when they come into our land,

and tread within our borders.

7 And the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like dew from the Lord,

like showers on the grass,

which don’t wait for people to come

or linger for mortals.

8 And the survivors of Jacob will be disbursed among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

like a young lion among the sheep-folds,

who, when he passes through, pounces.

He savages his prey. There is no rescuer.

9 Let your hand triumph over your adversaries,

let all your enemies be cut off.

10 On that day, says the Lord:

‘I will slaughter your horses from your midst,

and destroy your chariots.

11 I will devastate the cities in your land,

and tear down your fortresses.

12 I will destroy your magic charms,

and you will have no soothsayers.

13 I will cut down your idols and sacred pillars,

and you will not worship any more the work of your hands.

14 I will uproot your sacred poles,

and destroy your idols.

15 In my wrath and my anger

I will seek vengeance on the nations that ignore me.’