Old/New Testament
The Expectation of Renewal[a]
Chapter 4
We Shall Go to the Mountain of God
1 In days to come,
the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be established as the highest of the mountains,
towering above other hills.
Peoples will stream toward it;
2 many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion will instruction go forth,
and from Jerusalem the word of the Lord.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and serve as an arbiter,
between mighty and distant nations.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
nor will they ever again be trained for war.
4 Each man will sit under his own vine
or under his own fig tree
with no cause for alarm,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the peoples go forth,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God,
forever and ever.
Gathering Up the Dispersed Flock
6 On that day, says the Lord,
I will gather the lame;
I will assemble those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted.
7 I will make the lame into a remnant,
and turn into a strong nation those who were cast off.
The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion
now and forevermore.
8 As for you, O tower of the flock,[b]
hill of daughter Zion,
the promises made to you
will be fulfilled,
and your former security will be restored,
the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.
A Sorrowful Childbirth
9 Why are you now crying out?
Have you no king any longer,
or has your counselor perished,
that you are afflicted with pains
like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe in pain and cry aloud,
O daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor.
For now you must go forth from the city
and camp in the open country.
You will go to Babylon
where you will be saved.
There the Lord will deliver you
from the hands of your enemies.
The Nations Crush the Land of God
11 But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be profaned;
let us gloat over Zion.”
12 However, they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord
or comprehend his plan.
For he has gathered them
like sheaves on the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn like iron
and your hooves like bronze
so that you may crush many peoples.
You shall devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
From You Bethlehem There Will Be Born the One Who Will Rule[c]
14 Now withdraw behind your walls,
for they have laid siege against you.
With a rod they will strike on the cheek
the ruler of Israel.
Chapter 5
1 But from you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,[d]
among the tiniest of the clans of Judah,
from you will come forth for me
one who is to be a ruler in Israel,
one whose origins are from the distant past,
from ancient times.
2 Therefore, the Lord will abandon them
only until she who is in labor has given birth.
Then those of the people who survive
will be reunited with the Israelites.
3 He will rise up to shepherd his flock
by the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name
of the Lord his God.
And they will live in security,
for then his greatness will be renowned
to the ends of the earth.
4 He will ensure their peace.
If Assyria Invades Our Country . . .
If the Assyrians invade our country
and set foot upon our land,
we shall raise against them seven shepherds
and appoint eight[e] men to serve as rulers.
5 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod with drawn swords.
And we will be delivered from Assyria
if it invades our country
or treads upon our borders.
The Remnant of Jacob
6 Then the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
will be like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which do not depend upon man
or wait for any man’s bidding.
7 And among the nations the remnant of Jacob
will be surrounded by many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
trampling and tearing to pieces as it goes,
with no one able to stop the carnage.
8 Your hand will be lifted up over your foes,
and all your adversaries will be destroyed.
9 On that day, says the Lord,
I will slaughter your horses
and destroy your chariots.
10 I will demolish the cities of your land
and raze all your fortresses to the ground.
11 I will eliminate your sorcerers,
and there will be no more soothsayers among you.
12 I will cut down your images
and the sacred pillars in your midst;
you will no longer worship
the work of your hands.
13 I will uproot your sacred poles[f]
and destroy your cities.
14 In anger and fury, I will wreak vengeance
on the nations that have disobeyed me.
Chapter 12
The Great Confrontation: Pagan Rome and the Church[a]
Two Signs in Heaven: the Woman and the Dragon.[b] A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was with child and about to give birth, crying aloud in the anguish of her labor.3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems crowning his heads. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them to the earth.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up directly to God and to his throne. 6 The woman herself fled into the wilderness where she would be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days[c] in a place prepared for her by God.
7 Next, war broke out in heaven, with Michael[d] and his angels in combat against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon—the ancient serpent who is called the devil, or Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—was hurled down to earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser[e] of our brethren has been cast out,
the one who accused them day and night before our God.
11 They have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
even in the face of death
they did not cling to life.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to you, earth and sea,
because the devil has come down to you.
He is filled with rage,
for he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon realized that he had been hurled down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she was to be looked after for a year, two years, and a half year.[f]
15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed out water like a river after the woman to sweep her away with the flood. 16 However, the earth came to the rescue of the woman: it opened its mouth and swallowed the river spewed from the dragon’s mouth.
17 Then the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
18 A Beast Rises from the Sea.[g] Meanwhile, I took my position[h] on the seashore.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.