Old/New Testament
Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem
4 And in future days[a] the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all;[b]
it will be more prominent than other hills.[c]
People will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his ways
and we can live by his laws.”[d]
For instruction will proceed from Zion,
the Lord’s message from Jerusalem.
3 He will arbitrate[e] between many peoples
and settle disputes between many[f] distant nations.[g]
They will beat their swords into plowshares,[h]
and their spears into pruning hooks.[i]
Nations will not use weapons[j] against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear.[k]
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed it.[l]
5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods,[m]
we will follow[n] the Lord our God forever.
Restoration Will Follow Crisis
6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured.[o]
7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation,[p]
and those far off[q] into a mighty nation.
The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,
from that day forward and forevermore.[r]
8 As for you, watchtower for the flock,[s]
fortress of Daughter Zion[t]—
your former dominion will be restored,[u]
the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.”
9 Jerusalem, why are you[v] now shouting so loudly?[w]
Has your king disappeared?[x]
Has your wise leader[y] been destroyed?
Is this why[z] pain grips[aa] you as if you were a woman in labor?
10 Twist and strain,[ab] Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!
For you will leave the city
and live in the open field.
You will go to Babylon,
but there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will deliver[ac] you
from the power[ad] of your enemies.
11 Many nations have now assembled against you.
They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated,[ae]
so we can gloat over Zion!”[af]
12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;
they do not understand his strategy.
He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed[ag] at the threshing floor.
13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns;[ah]
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.”[ai]
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler[aj] of the whole earth.[ak]
5 (4:14)[al] But now slash yourself,[am] daughter surrounded by soldiers![an]
We are besieged!
With a scepter[ao] they strike Israel’s ruler[ap]
on the side of his face.
A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper
2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,[aq]
seemingly insignificant[ar] among the clans of Judah—
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf,[as]
one whose origins[at] are in the distant past.[au]
3 So the Lord[av] will hand the people of Israel[aw] over to their enemies[ax]
until the time when the woman in labor[ay] gives birth.[az]
Then the rest of the king’s[ba] countrymen will return
to be reunited with the people of Israel.[bb]
4 He will assume his post[bc] and shepherd the people[bd] by the Lord’s strength,
by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God.[be]
They will live securely,[bf] for at that time he will be honored[bg]
even in the distant regions of[bh] the earth.
5 He will give us peace.[bi]
Should the Assyrians try to invade our land
and attempt to set foot in our fortresses,[bj]
we will send[bk] against them seven[bl] shepherd-rulers,[bm]
make that eight commanders.[bn]
6 They will rule[bo] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod[bp] with a drawn sword.[bq]
Our king[br] will rescue us from the Assyrians
should they attempt to invade our land
and try to set foot in our territory.
7 Those survivors from[bs] Jacob will live[bt]
in the midst of many nations.[bu]
They will be like the dew the Lord sends,
like the rain on the grass,
that does not hope for men to come
or wait around for humans to arrive.[bv]
8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which attacks when it passes through.
It rips its prey[bw] and there is no one to stop it.[bx]
9 Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries;[by]
may all your enemies be destroyed![bz]
The Lord Will Purify His People
10 “In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will destroy[ca] your horses from your midst
and smash your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your fortresses.
12 I will remove the sorcery[cb] that you practice,[cc]
and you will no longer have omen readers living among you.[cd]
13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst;
you will no longer worship what your own hands made.
14 I will uproot your images of Asherah[ce] from your midst
and destroy your idols.[cf]
15 With furious anger I will carry out vengeance
on the nations that do not obey me.”
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
12 Then[a] a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.[b] 2 She[c] was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling[d] to give birth. 3 Then[e] another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.[f] 4 Now[g] the dragon’s[h] tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then[i] the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 So[j] the woman gave birth to a son, a male child,[k] who is going to rule[l] over all the nations[m] with an iron rod.[n] Her[o] child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and she[p] fled into the wilderness[q] where a place had been prepared for her[r] by God, so she could be taken care of[s] for 1,260 days.
War in Heaven
7 Then[t] war broke out in heaven: Michael[u] and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But[v] the dragon was not strong enough to prevail,[w] so there was no longer any place left[x] in heaven for him and his angels.[y] 9 So[z] that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10 Then[aa] I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
“The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the ruling authority[ab] of his Christ,[ac] have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,[ad]
the one who accuses them day and night[ae] before our God,
has been thrown down.
11 But[af] they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives[ag] so much that they were afraid to die.
12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!
But[ah] woe to the earth and the sea
because the devil has come down to you!
He[ai] is filled with terrible anger,
for he knows that he only has a little time!”
13 Now[aj] when the dragon realized[ak] that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But[al] the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness,[am] to the place God[an] prepared for her, where she is taken care of—away from the presence of the serpent—for a time, times, and half a time.[ao] 15 Then[ap] the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to[aq] sweep her away by a flood, 16 but[ar] the earth came to her rescue;[as] the ground opened up[at] and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So[au] the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children,[av] those who keep[aw] God’s commandments and hold to[ax] the testimony about Jesus.[ay] 18 And the dragon[az] stood[ba] on the sand[bb] of the seashore.[bc]
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