4
Yahweh’s future rule
1 Yahweh says that some day his temple will be on top of a mountain,
and that mountain will be the most important [MET] one on the earth;
it will be as though it is higher than all the hills,
and huge groups of people from all over the world will come there to worship.
2 People from many nations will say to each other,
“Let’s go to the mountain where Yahweh is,
to the temple where we can worship the God whom Jacob worshiped.
There God will teach us how he wants us to conduct our lives,
and we will do what he wants us to do.”
Zion Hill is the place where he will teach people;
and people will go out from Jerusalem to tell others his messages.
3 Yahweh will settle disputes between many people,
and he will also settle disputes between powerful nations that are far away.
Then people will hammer their swords to cause them to become plow blades,
and hammer their spears to cause them to become pruning knives.
Armies of nations will no longer fight against armies of other nations,
and they will no longer train men how to fight in wars.
4 Everyone will sit peacefully under his own grapevines,
and under his own fig trees;
no one will cause them to be afraid.
That is what will surely happen because the Commander of the armies of angels has said it.
5 Many [HYP] of the people of other nations will worship [IDM] their own gods,
but we will worship Yahweh our God always, forever.
The Israeli people will return from exile
6 Yahweh says, “There will soon be a time when I will gather the people whom I have punished,
who have been ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries►,
all those whom I have caused to suffer much.
7 My people who did not die while they were exiled will become a strong nation again.
Then I, Yahweh, will be their king,
and I will rule from Jerusalem forever.
8 As for you people of Jerusalem [MET],
you who guard all of my people like [MET] a shepherd guards his sheep from a tower,
you who live on Zion Hill, will have great power again.
You people who live in Jerusalem will again rule like you did previously.
9 So why [RHQ] are you wailing now?
Is it because you have no king?
Have all your wise people died?
You are groaning loudly like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
10 Well, you people of Jerusalem should writhe and groan like [SIM] a woman who is having birth pains,
because now you must leave this city,
and while you are traveling, you will set up tents in open fields at night;
you will go to live in Babylon.
But while you are there,
I, Yahweh, will rescue you;
I will free you from the power/control [MTY] of your enemies.
11 Now the armies of many nations have gathered to attack you.
They are saying, ‘Jerusalem must be destroyed!
We want to see this city when it becomes ruins!’
12 But they do not know what I, Yahweh, think,
and they do not understand what I plan:
I will gather them and punish them
like [SIM] farmers thresh grain on the ground.
13 So, you people of Jerusalem, rise up and punish [MET] the nations who oppose you.
I will cause you to be very strong,
as if [MET] you had horns made of iron,
as if [MET] you had hoofs made of bronze;
and you will crush many nations.
And then you will take from your enemies the valuable things that they have taken from other countries,
and you will dedicate those things to me, the one who is the Lord of all the people on the earth.”