66 Yahweh says this:
The heavens are my throne[ref] and the earth is my footstool.[ref]
Where then, could you all build a house for me,
≈ and where could be a place for me to relax?
2 My hand made all those
≈ and they came to be by Yahweh’s declaration.
The that I take notice of
are those who are humble and contrite,
and who sincerely respect and honour my message.
3 The same person who slaughters a bull (to sacrifice), also murders a person.
≈ The one who sacrifices a lamb, breaks a dog’s neck.
Someone who brings up a grain offering, also brings pigs’ blood.
≈ A person who offers incense as a memorial, blesses wickedness as well.
→ They’ve chosen their own ways, and enjoy their detestable .
4 So I will choose their punishment,
→ and I’ll cause their fears to come to be.
because I called but no one answered.
≈ I spoke and no one listened.
They did evil as I watched,
≈ and chose to do what I didn’t like.
5 Listen to Yahweh’s message you who respect and honour it.
Your relatives who hate you and who exclude you all for my name’s sake, have said,
‘Let Yahweh be honoured so we can see your happiness,’
however, they’ll be put to shame.
6 There’s a sound of uproar from the city—
≈ noise coming from the temple:
the sound of Yahweh giving his enemies what they deserve.
7 Before it went into labour, it already gave birth.
≈ Before the pain hit it, it delivered a son.[ref]
8 Who’s heard anything like that before?
≈ Who’s seen those sorts of things?
Can a land be given birth to in one day?
≈ Can a nation be born in an instant,
→ because Tsiyon (Zion) gave birth to her children so soon as she went into labour?
9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth canal and then not deliver it?” Yahweh asks.
≈ “Or do I bring it to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your god.
10 Celebrate with Yerushalem (Jerusalem) all of you who love it, and be glad.
≈ Happily celebrate with it, all of you who mourned over it,
11 because you’ll all suckle and be satisfied from her comforting breasts.
≈ Yes, you’ll all drink deeply and delight yourselves from her gushing nipple,
12 because Yahweh says this:
Listen, I’m about to extend peace to Yerushalem like a river,
and the wealth of the nations to her like an overflowing stream.
Then you’ll all suckle and be carried on the hip,
and bounced on her knees.
13 I’ll comfort you all like a mother comforts her child,
and you’ll all be comforted in Yerushalem.
14 You’ll all see that and it’ll warm your heart,
and your bones will sprout like the grass.
Yahweh will reveal his power to his servants,
and he’ll be indignant at his enemies,
15 because listen, Yahweh will come in fire with his chariots like a windstorm,
→ to bring his raging anger and to rebuke with flames of fire.
16 Yes, Yahweh judges all humanity with fire and his sword,
and many will be killed by him.
17 Those who consecrate themselves, and purify themselves for the gardens,
and those who eat pork, rats, and other detestable things, will all be destroyed together.
That is Yahweh’s declaration.
18 I know their thoughts and what they’ve done. The time is coming to gather all the nations and the language groups, and they’ll come and see my glory. 19 I’ll perform a miracle among them, and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud (home of archers), Tuval, Yavan (Greece), and to the distant islands where they haven’t heard about me or seen my splendour. They’ll tell other nations about my greatness. 20 Then they’ll bring all your relatives back from all the nations to my sacred mountain Yerushalem (Jerusalem), on horses, and in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels, as an offering to Yahweh like how the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel into the house of Yahweh.
That’s what Yahweh says.
21 Then I’ll choose some of them to be priests and temple workers.
That’s what Yahweh says.
22 Just as the new skies and the new earth will stand in front of me,[ref]
so your descendants and your name will endure.
That’s what Yahweh declares.
23 Then from month to month and week to week,
all creatures will come to bow down in front of me.
That’s what Yahweh says.
24 Then they’ll go out and see the corpses of those who rebelled against me,
because the maggots won’t die and their fire won’t be extinguished,[ref]
and all creatures will find them abhorrent.
