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Isaiah 56:1-66:24

ISAIAH 3. God's people will include all nations. (Is.56.1-8)

561 Thus says Yahweh:
Make fair judgement your concern, act with justice,
for soon my salvation will come
and my saving justice be manifest.
2 Blessed is anyone who does this,
anyone who clings to it,
observing the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and abstaining from every evil deed.
3 No foreigner adhering to Yahweh should say,
'Yahweh will utterly exclude me from his people.'
No eunuch should say,
'Look, I am a dried-up tree.'
4 For Yahweh says this: To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose to do my good pleasure
and cling to my covenant,
5 I shall give them in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name better than sons and daughters;
I shall give them an everlasting name
that will never be effaced.
6 As for foreigners who adhere to Yahweh to serve him,
to love Yahweh's name and become his servants,
all who observe the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and cling to my covenant:
7 these I shall lead to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 8 Lord Yahweh who gathers the exiles of Israel declares:
There are others I shall gather besides those already gathered.

Israel's leaders are condemned. (Is.56.9-12)

9 Come and gorge, all you wild beasts,
all you beasts of the forest! 10 Its watchmen are all blind,
they know nothing.
Dumb watchdogs all, unable to bark,
they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.
11 Greedy dogs, never satisfied, such are the shepherds,
who understand nothing;
they all go their own way,
each to the last man after his own interest.
12 'Come, let me fetch wine;
we will get drunk on strong drink,
tomorrow will be just as wonderful as today
and even more so!'

Israel's idolatry condemned. (Is.57.1-13)

571 The upright person perishes
and no one cares.
The faithful is taken off
and no one takes it to heart.
Yes, because of the evil times
the upright is taken off;
2 he will enter peace,
and those who follow the right way
will find rest on their beds. 3 But you, you children of a witch, come here,
adulterous race prostituting yourselves!
4 At whom are you jeering,
at whom are you making faces
and sticking out your tongue?
Are you not the spawn of rebellion,
a lying race?
5 Lusting among the terebinths,
and under every spreading tree,
sacrificing children in the ravines,
below the clefts in the rocks.
6 The smooth stones of the ravines will be your portion,
yes, these will be your lot.
To these you have poured libations,
have brought your cereal offering.
Can all this appease me?
7 On a mountain high and lofty
you have put your bed.
Thither, too, you have climbed
to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind door and doorpost
you have set your reminder.
Yes, far from me, you exposed yourself,
climbed on to your bed,
and made the most of it.
You struck a profitable bargain
with those whose bed you love,
whoring with them often,
with your eyes on the sacred symbol.
9 You went to Molech with oil,
you were prodigal with your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far afield,
down to Sheol itself.
10 Though tired by so much travelling,
you never said, 'It is no use.'
Finding your strength revive,
you never gave up.
11 Who was it you dreaded, and feared,
that you should betray me,
no longer remember me
and not spare a thought for me?
Was I not silent for a long time?
So you cannot have been afraid of me.
12 Now I shall expose this uprightness of yours,
and little good it did you.
13 When you cry for help,
let those thronging round you save you!
The wind will carry them all away,
one puff will take them off.
But whoever trusts in me will inherit the country,
he will own my holy mountain.

God's promise of help & healing. (Is.57.14-21)

14 Then it will be said:
Level up, level up, clear the way,
remove the obstacle from my people's way,
15 for thus says the High and Exalted One
who lives eternally
and whose name is holy,
'I live in the holy heights
but I am with the contrite and humble,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 'For I do not want to be forever accusing
nor always to be angry,
or the spirit would fail under my onslaught,
the souls that I myself have made. 17 'Angered by his wicked cupidity,
I hid and struck him in anger,
but he rebelliously went the way of his choice. 18 'I saw how he behaved, but I shall heal him,
I shall lead him, fill him with consolation,
him and those who mourn for him,
19 bringing praise to their lips.
Peace, peace to far and near, Yahweh says,
and I shall heal him.'
20 The wicked, however, are like the restless sea
that cannot be still,
whose waters throw up mud and dirt.
21 'No peace', says Yahweh, 'for the wicked.'

True fasting. (Is.58.1-12)

581 Shout for all you are worth, do not hold back,
raise your voice like a trumpet.
To my people proclaim their rebellious acts,
to the House of Jacob, their sins.
2 They seek for me day after day,
they long to know my ways,
like a nation that has acted uprightly
and not forsaken the law of its God.
They ask me for laws that are upright,
they long to be near God:
3 'Why have we fasted, if you do not see,
why mortify ourselves if you never notice?'
Look, you seek your own pleasure on your fastdays
and you exploit all your workmen;
4 look, the only purpose of your fasting is to quarrel and squabble
and strike viciously with your fist.
Fasting like yours today
will never make your voice heard on high.
5 Is that the sort of fast that pleases me,
a day when a person inflicts pain on himself?
Hanging your head like a reed,
spreading out sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call fasting,
a day acceptable to Yahweh?
6 Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me:
to break unjust fetters,
to undo the thongs of the yoke.
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break all yokes?
7 Is it not sharing your food with the hungry,
and sheltering the homeless poor;
if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own kin?
8 Then your light will blaze out like the dawn
and your wound be quickly healed over.
Saving justice will go ahead of you
and Yahweh's glory come behind you.
9 Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer;
you will call and he will say, 'I am here.'
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist and malicious words,
10 if you deprive yourself for the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your darkest hour will be like noon.
11 Yahweh will always guide you,
will satisfy your needs in the scorched land;
he will give strength to your bones
and you will be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring
whose waters never run dry.
12 Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt;
you will build on age?old foundations.
You will be called 'Breach-mender.
Restorer of streets to be lived in'.

Keeping the Sabbath. (Is.58.13-14)

13 If you refrain from breaking the Sabbath,
from taking your own pleasure on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath 'Delightful',
and the day sacred to Yahweh 'Honourable',
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from seeking your own pleasure and from too much talk,
14 then you will find true happiness in Yahweh,
and I shall lead you in triumph over the heights of the land.
I shall feed you on the heritage of your father Jacob,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

The prophet condemns the people's sins. (Is.59.1-8)

591 No, the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear,
2 but your guilty deeds have made a gulf
between you and your God.
Your sins have made him hide his face from you
so as not to hear you,
3 since your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with guilt;
your lips utter lies,
your tongues murmur wickedness.
4 No one makes upright accusations
or pleads sincerely.
All rely on empty words, utter falsehood,
conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They are hatching adders' eggs
and weaving a spider's web;
eat one of their eggs and you die,
crush one and a viper emerges.
6 Their webs are useless for clothing,
their deeds are useless for wearing;
their deeds are deeds of guilt,
violence fills their hands.
7 Their feet run to do evil;
they are quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of guilt,
wherever they go there is havoc and ruin.
8 They do not know the way of peace,
there is no fair judgement in their course,
they have made their own crooked paths,
and no one treading them knows any peace.

The people confess their sin. (Is.59.9-15)

9 Thus fair judgement is remote from us
nor can uprightness overtake us.
We looked for light and all is darkness,
for brightness and we walk in gloom.
10 Like the blind we feel our way along walls,
we grope our way like people without eyes.
We stumble as though noon were twilight,
among the robust we are like the dead.
11 We growl, all of us, like bears,
like doves we make no sound but moaning,
waiting for the fair Judgement that never comes,
for salvation, but that is far away. 12 How often we have rebelled against you
and our sins bear witness against us.
Our rebellious acts are indeed with us,
we are well aware of our guilt:
13 rebellion and denial of Yahweh,
turning our back on our God,
talking violence and revolt,
murmuring lies in our heart.
14 Fair judgement is driven away
and saving justice stands aloof,
for good faith has stumbled in the street
and sincerity cannot enter.
15 Good faith has vanished;
anyone abstaining from evil is victimised.

Yahweh saw this and was displeased
that there was no fair judgement.

The LORD prepares to rescue his people. (Is.59.15b-21)

16 He saw there was no one
and wondered there was no one to intervene.
So he made his own arm his mainstay,
his own saving justice his support.
17 He put on saving justice like a breastplate,
on his head the helmet of salvation.
He put on the clothes of vengeance like a tunic
and wrapped himself in jealousy like a cloak.
18 To each he repays his due,
retribution to his enemies, reprisals on his foes,
to the coasts and islands he will repay their due.
19 From the west, Yahweh's name will be feared,
and from the east, his glory,
for he will come like a pent-up stream
impelled by the breath of Yahweh.
20 Then for Zion will come a redeemer,
for those who stop rebelling in Jacob,
declares Yahweh.
21 'For my part, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh. My spirit with which I endowed you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not leave your mouth, or the mouths of your children, or the mouths of your children's children, says Yahweh, henceforth and for ever.'

The future glory of Jerusalem. (Is.60.1-22)

601 Arise, shine out, for your light has come,
and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you.
2 Look! though night still covers the earth
and darkness the peoples,
on you Yahweh is rising
and over you his glory can be seen.
3 The nations will come to your light
and kings to your dawning brightness.
4 Lift up your eyes and look around:
all are assembling and coming towards you,
your sons coming from far away
and your daughters being carried on the hip.
5 At this sight you will grow radiant,
your heart will throb and dilate,
since the riches of the sea will flow to you,
the wealth of the nations come to you;
6 camels in throngs will fill your streets,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
everyone in Saba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and proclaiming Yahweh's praises.
7 All the flocks of Kedar will gather inside you,
the rams of Nebaioth will be at your service
as acceptable victims on my altar,
and I shall glorify my glorious house. 8 Who are these flying like a cloud,
like doves to their dovecote?
9 Why, the coasts and islands put their hope in me
and the vessels of Tarshish take the lead
in bringing your children from far away,
and their silver and gold with them,
for the sake of the name of Yahweh your God,
of the Holy One of Israel who has made you glorious.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls
and their kings will serve you.
For though I struck you in anger,
in mercy I have pitied you.
11 Your gates will always be open,
never closed, either day or night,
for the riches of the nations to be brought you
and their kings to be let in. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish,
and the nations will be utterly destroyed. 13 The glory of the Lebanon will come to you,
cypress, plane-tree, box-tree, one and all,
to adorn the site of my sanctuary,
for me to honour the place where I stand.
14 Your oppressors' children will humbly approach you,
at your feet all who despised you will fall
addressing you as 'City of Yahweh.
Zion of the Holy One of Israel'.
15 Instead of your being forsaken and hated,
avoided by everyone,
I will make you an object of eternal pride,
a source of joy from age to age.
16 You will suck the milk of nations,
you will suck the wealth of kings,
and you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour,
that your redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 For bronze I shall bring gold
and for iron I shall bring silver,
and for wood, bronze,
and for stone, iron;
I shall make Peace your administration
and Saving Justice your government.
18 Violence will no longer be heard of in your country,
nor devastation and ruin within your frontiers.
You will call your walls 'Salvation'
and your gates 'Praise'. 19 No more will the sun give you daylight,
nor moonlight shine on you,
but Yahweh will be your everlasting light,
your God will be your splendour.
20 Your sun will set no more
nor will your moon wane,
for Yahweh will be your everlasting light
and your days of mourning will be over.
21 Your people, all of them upright,
will possess the country for ever,
the shoot I myself have planted,
my handiwork, for my own glory.
22 The smallest will grow into a thousand,
the weakest one into a mighty nation.
When the time is ripe, I, Yahweh,
shall quickly bring it about.

Good news of deliverance. (Is.61.1-62.12)

611 The spirit of Lord Yahweh is on me
for Yahweh has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the news to the afflicted,
to soothe the broken-hearted,
2 to proclaim liberty to captives,
release to those in prison,
to proclaim a year of favour from Yahweh
and a day of vengeance for our God,
to comfort all who mourn
3 (to give to Zion's mourners),
to give them for ashes a garland,
for mourning-dress, the oil of gladness,
for despondency, festal attire;
and they will be called 'terebinths of saving justice',
planted by Yahweh to glorify him.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
they will raise what has long lain waste,
they will restore the ruined cities,
all that has lain waste for ages past.
5 Strangers will come forward to feed your flocks,
foreigners be your ploughmen and vinedressers;
6 but you will be called 'priests of Yahweh'
and be addressed as 'ministers of our God'.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
you will supplant them in their glory.
7 To make up for your shame, you will receive double;
instead of disgrace, shouts of joy will be their lot;
yes, they will have a double portion in their country
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 For I am Yahweh: I love fair judgement,
I hate robbery and wrong-doing,
and I shall reward them faithfully
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their race will be famous throughout the nations
and their offspring throughout the peoples.
All who see them will admit
that they are a race whom Yahweh has blessed. 10 I exult for joy in Yahweh, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in a cloak of saving justice, like a bridegroom wearing his garland, like a bride adorned in her jewels. 11 For as the earth sends up its shoots and a garden makes seeds sprout, so Lord Yahweh makes saving justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations. 621 About Zion I will not be silent,
about Jerusalem I shall not rest
until saving justice dawns for her like a bright light
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will then see your saving justice,
and all kings your glory,
and you will be called a new name
which Yahweh's mouth will reveal.
3 You will be a crown of splendour in Yahweh's hand,
a princely diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No more will you be known as 'Forsaken'
or your country be known as 'Desolation';
instead, you will be called 'My Delight is in her'
and your country 'The Wedded';
for Yahweh will take delight in you
and your country will have its wedding.
5 Like a young man marrying a virgin,
your rebuilder will wed you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
so will your God rejoice in you. 6 On your walls, Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen;
they will never fall silent, day or night.
No peace for you, as you keep Yahweh's attention!
7 And give him no peace either
until he restores Jerusalem
and makes her the pride of the world!
8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
Never again shall I give your grain
to feed your enemies.
Never again will foreigners drink the wine
for which you have toiled.
9 No, the reapers will eat it and praise Yahweh,
the harvesters will drink it in my sacred courts! 10 Pass through, pass through the gates.
Clear a way for my people!
Level up, level up the highway,
remove the stones!
Hoist a signal to the peoples!
11 This is what Yahweh has proclaimed
to the remotest part of earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Look, your salvation is coming;
with him comes his reward, his achievement precedes him!' 12 They will be called 'The Holy People.
Yahweh's Redeemed',
while you will be called 'Sought-after.
City-not-forsaken'.

the LORD's victory over the nations. (Is.63.1-6)

631 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in crimson garments,
so magnificently dressed,
marching so full of strength?
—It is I, whose word is saving justice,
whose power is to save.
2 —Why are your garments red,
your clothes like someone treading the winepress?
3 —I have trodden the winepress alone;
of my people, not one was with me.
So I trod them down in my anger,
I trampled on them in my wrath.
Their blood squirted over my garments
and all my clothes are stained.
4 For I have decided on a day of vengeance,
my year of retribution has come.
5 I looked: there was no one to help me;
I was appalled but could find no supporter!
Then my own arm came to my rescue
and my own fury supported me.
6 I crushed the peoples in my anger,
I shattered them in my fury
and sent their blood streaming to the ground.

The LORD's goodness to Israel. (Is.63.7-14)

7 I shall recount Yahweh's acts of faithful love,
Yahweh's praises,
in return for all that Yahweh has done for us,
for his great kindness to the House of Israel,
for all that he has done in his mercy,
for the abundance of his acts of faithful love. 8 For he said, 'Truly they are my people,
children who will not betray me,'
and he became their Saviour.
9 In all their troubles,
it was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them.
In his love and pity he himself redeemed them,
lifted them up and carried them
throughout the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit.
Then he became their enemy
and himself waged war on them.
11 But he called the past to mind,
Moses his servant.
Where is he who saved them from the sea,
the Shepherd of his flock?
Where was he who put
his holy Spirit among them,
12 whose glorious arm led the way
by Moses' right hand?
Who divided the waters before them
to win himself everlasting renown,
13 who led them through the depths
as easily as a horse through the desert?
They stumbled as little
14 as cattle going down to the plain.
Yahweh's Spirit led them to rest.
This was how you guided your people
to win yourself glorious renown.

A prayer for mercy & help. (Is.63.15-64.12)

15 Look down from heaven and see
from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where is your zeal and your might?
Are your deepest feelings,
your mercy to me, to be restrained?
16 After all, you are our Father.
If Abraham will not own us,
if Israel will not acknowledge us,
you, Yahweh, are our Father,
'Our Redeemer' is your name from of old.
17 Why, Yahweh, do you let us wander from your ways
and let our hearts grow too hard to fear you?
Return, for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people have owned it for so short a time,
our enemies have trampled on your sanctuary.
19 We have long been like those you do not rule,
people who do not bear your name.

Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down
—in your presence the mountains would quake,
641 as fire sets brushwood alight,
as fire makes water boil—
to make your name known to your foes;
the nations would tremble at your presence,
2 at the unexpected miracles you would do.
(Oh, that you would come down,
in your presence the mountains would quake!) 3 Never has anyone heard,
no ear has heard, no eye has seen
any god but you act like this
for the sake of those who trust him.
4 You come to meet those
who are happy to act uprightly;
keeping your ways reminds them of you.
Yes, you have been angry and we have been sinners;
now we persist in your ways and we shall be saved.
5 We have all been like unclean things
and our upright deeds like filthy rags.
We wither, all of us, like leaves,
and all our misdeeds carry us off like the wind.
6 There is no one to invoke your name,
to rouse himself to hold fast to you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and given us up to the power of our misdeeds.
7 And yet, Yahweh, you are our Father;
we the clay and you our potter,
all of us are the work of your hands.
8 Yahweh, do not let your anger go too far
and do not remember guilt for ever.
Look, please, we are all your people;
9 your holy cities have become a desert,
Zion has become a desert,
Jerusalem a wasteland.
10 Our holy and glorious Temple,
in which our ancestors used to praise you,
has been burnt to the ground;
all our delight lies in ruins.
11 Yahweh, can you restrain yourself at all this?
Will you stay silent and afflict us beyond endurance?

God's punishment on the rebellious. (Is.65.1-16)

651 I have let myself be approached by those who did not consult me,
I have let myself be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, 'Here I am, here I am!'
to a nation that did not invoke my name.
2 Each day I stretched out my hands
to a rebellious people
who follow a way which is not good,
as the fancy takes them;
3 a people constantly provoking me to my face
by sacrificing in gardens,
burning incense on bricks,
4 living in tombs,
spending the night in dark corners,
eating the meat of pigs,
putting unclean foods on their plates.
5 'Keep your distance,' they say,
'do not touch me, lest my sanctity come near you!'
Such words are like stifling smoke to me,
an ever-burning fire.
6 Look, it is inscribed before me:
I shall not be silent until I have repaid them,
repaid them in full,
7 punished your guilt and your ancestors' guilt together,
Yahweh declares.
For having burnt incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills,
I shall pay them back in full for what they have done. 8 Yahweh says this:
As when a bunch of grapes is found still to have juice in it,
people say, 'Do not destroy it,
for it contains a blessing,'
so I shall act for my servants' sake,
I shall not destroy them all.
9 I shall produce descendants from Jacob
and heirs to my mountains from Judah,
my chosen ones will own them
and my servants will live there.
10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,
the Valley of Achor a feeding ground for cattle,
for those of my people who have sought me.
11 But as for those of you who abandon Yahweh,
who forget my holy mountain,
who lay the table for Gad,
who fill cups of mixed wine for Meni,
12 you I shall destine to the sword
and all of you will stoop to be slaughtered,
because I called and you would not answer,
I spoke and you would not listen;
you have done what I consider evil,
you chose to do what displeases me.
13 Therefore Lord Yahweh says this:
You will see my servants eating
while you go hungry;
you will see my servants drinking
while you go thirsty;
you will see my servants rejoicing
while you are put to shame;
14 you will hear my servants shouting for joy of heart,
while you shriek for sorrow of heart
and howl with a broken spirit.
15 And you will leave your name behind as a curse for my chosen ones,
'May Lord Yahweh strike you dead!'
But to his servants he will give another name.
16 Whoever blesses himself on earth will bless himself by the God of truth,
and whoever swears an oath on earth will swear by the God of truth,
for past troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.

The new creation. (Is.65.17-25)

17 For look, I am going to create new heavens and a new earth,
and the past will not be remembered
and will come no more to mind.
18 Rather be joyful, be glad for ever
at what I am creating,
for look, I am creating Jerusalem to be 'Joy'
and my people to be 'Gladness'.
19 I shall be joyful in Jerusalem
and I shall rejoice in my people.
No more will the sound of weeping be heard there,
nor the sound of a shriek;
20 never again will there be an infant there who lives only a few days,
nor an old man who does not run his full course;
for the youngest will die at a hundred,
and at a hundred the sinner will be accursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them,
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build for others to live in,
or plant for others to eat;
for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will themselves use what they have made.
23 They will not toil in vain,
nor bear children destined to disaster,
for they are the race of Yahweh's blessed ones
and so are their offspring.
24 Thus, before they call I shall answer,
before they stop speaking I shall have heard.
25 The wolf and the young lamb will feed together,
the lion will eat hay like the ox,
and dust be the serpent's food.
No hurt, no harm will be done
on all my holy mountain,
Yahweh says.

The LORD judges the nations. (Is.66.1-24)

661 Thus says Yahweh:
With heaven my throne and earth my footstool,
what house could you build me,
what place for me to rest,
2 when all these things were made by me
and all belong to me?ᡄdeclares Yahweh.
But my eyes are drawn to the person
of humbled and contrite spirit,
who trembles at my word. 3 Some slaughter a bull, some kill a human being,
some sacrifice a lamb, some strangle a dog,
some present an offering of pig's blood,
some burn memorial incense, a revolting blessing;
all these people have chosen their own ways
and take delight in their disgusting practices.
4 I too take delight in making fools of them,
I shall bring what they most fear down on them
because I have called and no one would answer,
I spoke and no one listened.
They have done what I regard as evil,
have chosen what displeases me. 5 Listen to the word of Yahweh,
you who tremble at his word.
Your brothers, who hate and reject you
because of my name, have said,
'Let Yahweh show his glory,
let us witness your joy!'
But they will be put to shame. 6 Listen! An uproar from the city!
A voice from the Temple!
The voice of Yahweh
bringing retribution on his enemies. 7 Before being in labour she has given birth.
Before the birth pangs came, she has been delivered of a child. 8 Who ever heard of such a thing,
who ever saw anything like this?
Can a country be born in one day?
Can a nation be brought forth all at once?
For Zion, scarcely in labour, has brought forth her children! 9 Shall I open the womb and not bring to birth?
says Yahweh.
Shall I, who bring to birth, close the womb?
says your God. 10 Rejoice with Jerusalem,
be glad for her, all you who love her!
Rejoice, rejoice with her,
all you who mourned her! 11 So that you may be suckled and satisfied
from her consoling breast,
so that you may drink deep with delight
from her generous nipple. 12 For Yahweh says this:
Look, I am going to send peace
flowing over her like a river,
and like a stream in spate
the glory of the nations.

You will be suckled, carried on her hip
and fondled in her lap.
13 As a mother comforts a child,
so I shall comfort you;
you will be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 At the sight your heart will rejoice,
and your limbs regain vigour like the grass.
To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand,
but to his enemies his fury. 15 For see how Yahweh comes in fire,
his chariots like the whirlwind,
to assuage his anger with burning,
his rebukes with flaming fire. 16 For by fire will Yahweh execute fair judgement,
and by his sword, on all people;
and Yahweh's victims will be many. 17 As for those who sanctify themselves
and purify themselves to enter the gardens,
following the one in the centre,
who eat the flesh of pigs, revolting things and rats:
their deeds and their thoughts will perish together,
declares Yahweh.

18 I am coming to gather every nation and every language. They will come to witness my glory. 19 I shall give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coasts and islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations, 20 and from all the nations they will bring all your brothers as an offering to Yahweh, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, Yahweh says, like Israelites bringing offerings in clean vessels to Yahweh's house. 21 And some of them I shall make into priests and Levites, Yahweh says. 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth I am making will endure before me, declares Yahweh, so will your race and your name endure.
23 From New Moon to New Moon,
from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all humanity will come and bow
in my presence, Yahweh says.
24 And on their way out they will see
the corpses of those who rebelled against me;
for their worm will never die
nor their fire be put out,
and they will be held in horror by all humanity.

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