Yahweh will help the people of Jerusalem

5 But you people who tremble when you hear what Yahweh says,

listen to what he says now:

“Some of your people hate you and reject you

because you belong to me.

They make fun of you, and they say,

‘Yahweh should show his glorious power!

We want to see him do something to cause you to be truly happy.’

But some day those people will be very disgraced.”

6 At that time, you will listen to the noise in the city.

You will hear the shouting in the temple.

It will be the sound of Yahweh shouting

while he is punishing his enemies!

7 No one [RHQ] ever heard that a woman gave birth to a baby

when she was just starting to have birth pains.

8 Certainly no one [RHQ] ever heard about such a thing happening,

and no one has ever seen it happen.

Similarly, no one ever [RHQ] heard that a nation was created in one instant,

not even in one day.

But Jerusalem is like [MET] a woman who gives birth to children

as soon as she starts to have birth pains.

9 Women certainly do not [RHQ] bring infants to the time when they are ready to be born and then do not allow them to be born.

Similarly, he will do for Jerusalem [MET] what he has promised to do:

He will cause Jerusalem to be full of people again.

That will happen because Yahweh has said it.

10 You people in [APO] Jerusalem, rejoice!

And all you people who love Jerusalem should also be happy.

You people who were sad because of what happened to Jerusalem,

you should now be glad.

11 You people in Jerusalem will have everything that you need

like [MET] a baby that gets all it needs from its mother’s breasts.

You will enjoy all the abundant and glorious things [MET] in the city.

12 Yahweh has promised,

“I will cause Jerusalem to be full of valuable things that come from other nations;

those things will pour into Jerusalem; it will be like [SIM] a big flood.

I will take care of the people of Jerusalem

like women care for the babies that they nurse.

13 I will comfort you people in Jerusalem like [MET] mothers comfort their children.”

14 When you see those things happen,

you [SYN] will rejoice.

Your old bones will become strong again

like [SIM] grass that grows quickly/well in the springtime.

When that happens, everyone will know that Yahweh has power [MTY] to help those who worship and obey him,

but that he is angry with his enemies.

15 Yahweh will come down with flames of fire,

and his chariots will come down like [SIM] a whirlwind;

he will be extremely angry,

and he will punish his enemies by burning them in a fire.

16 It is as though [MET] Yahweh has a big sword,

and he will judge and execute many people.

17 Yahweh says, “Some of you people purify/bathe yourselves and then go to a garden to worship your gods. You eat the meat of pigs and lizards and mice, and other things that I have forbidden you to eat. So I will get rid of you for doing that.

18 I know all the evil things that you think and do. It is now time for me to gather together the people who live in all nations and who speak all languages, and to show them that I am very great.

19 I will put a mark on them, and those whom I have spared will go to various distant countries: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, Javan, and to distant islands. I will send them to proclaim to nations that have never heard about me that I am very great and glorious. 20 Then they will bring back here your relatives who have been ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries►, to be like [SIM] an offering to me. They will come on horses, in chariots, on mules, and on camels. They will come to Zion, my sacred hill in Jerusalem. That will be like [SIM] the offerings that my Israeli people used to bring in the correct manner to the temple. 21 I solemnly promise that I will appoint some of them to be priests, and others to do other work in my temple. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.

22 I also promise that just like the new heaven and the new earth will last forever, you will always have descendants, and you [MTY] will always be honored. 23 At every festival to celebrate the Sabbath each week and the new moon each month, everyone will come and worship me. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it. 24 Then they will go out of Jerusalem and look at the corpses of those who rebelled against me. The maggots in those corpses will never die, the fire will never stop burning them, and everyone who sees their corpses will detest them.”