1 In the future, the mountain
with the Lord’s temple
will be the highest
of all.
It will reach above the hills,
and every nation
will rush to it.
2 People of many nations
will come and
say,
“Let’s go up to the mountain
of the Lord God of Jacob
and worship in
his temple.”
The Lord will teach us his Law
from Jerusalem,
and we will obey
him.
3 He will settle arguments
between distant
and powerful nations.
They will pound their swords
and their spears
into rakes and
shovels;
they will never again make war
or attack one
another.
4 Everyone will find rest
beneath their own fig trees
or grape vines,
and they will live in peace.
This is a solemn promise
of the Lord All-Powerful.
5 Others may follow their gods,
but we will always follow
the Lord our God.
6 The Lord said:
At that time
I will gather
my people—
the lame and the outcasts,
and all into whose lives
I have brought
sorrow.
7 Then the lame and the outcasts
will belong to my people
and become a strong
nation.
I, the Lord, will rule them
from Mount Zion
forever.
8 Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
guardian of my people,
you will rule
again.
9 Jerusalem, why are you crying?
Don’t you have a king?
Have your advisors
gone?
Are you suffering
like a woman in
childbirth?
10 Keep on groaning with pain,
you people of
Jerusalem!
If you escape from your city
to the countryside,
you will still be taken
as prisoners to
Babylonia.
But later I will rescue you
from your enemies.
11 Zion, because of your sins
you are surrounded
by many nations
who say,
“We can hardly wait
to see you disgraced.”
12 But they don’t know
that I, the Lord,
have gathered them here
to grind them
like grain.
13 Smash them to pieces, Zion!
I’ll let you be like a bull
with iron horns
and bronze hoofs.
Crush those nations
and bring their wealth to me,
the Lord of the
earth.