The Distress of Zion

¹Howthe gold has become tarnished,the pure gold has become dull!The gems of the temple lie scatteredon every street corner.

²How the precious sons of Zion,once worth their weight in pure gold,are now esteemed as jars of clay,the work of a potter’s hands!

³Even jackalsoffer their breaststo nurse their young,but the daughter of my people has become cruel,like an ostrich in the wilderness.

⁴The nursing infant’s tongueclings in thirst to the roof of his mouth.Little children beg for bread,but no one gives them any.

⁵Those who once ate delicaciesare destitute in the streets;those brought up in crimsonhuddle in ash heaps.

⁶The punishmentof the daughter of my peopleis greater than that of Sodom,which was overthrown in an instantwithout a hand turned to help her.

⁷Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,whiter than milk;their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,their appearancelike sapphires.

⁸But now their appearance is blacker than soot;they are not recognized in the streets.Their skin has shriveled on their bones;it has become as dry as a stick.

⁹Those slain by the sword are better offthan those who die of hunger,who waste away, pierced with painbecause the fields lack produce.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate womenhave cooked their own children,who became their foodin the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹The LORD has exhausted His wrath;He has poured out His fierce anger;He has kindled a fire in Zion,and it has consumed her foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe,nor any people of the world,that an enemy or a foecould enter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³But this was for the sins of her prophetsand the guilt of her priests,who shed the blood of the righteousin her midst.

¹⁴They wandered blind in the streets,defiled by this blood,so that no one daredto touch their garments.

¹⁵“Go away! Unclean!”men shouted at them.“Away, away! Do not touch us!”So they fled and wandered.Among the nations it was said,“They can stay here no longer.”

¹⁶The presence of the LORD has scattered them;He regards them no more.The priests are shown no honor;the elders find no favor.

¹⁷All the while our eyes were failingas we looked in vain for help.We watched from our towersfor a nation that could not save us.

¹⁸They stalked our every step,so that we could not walk in our streets.Our end drew near, our time ran out,for our end had come!

¹⁹Those who chased us were swifterthan the eagles in the sky;they pursued us over the mountainsand ambushed us in the wilderness.

²⁰The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life,was captured in their pits.We had said of him,“Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”

²¹So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom,you who dwell in the land of Uz.Yet the cup will pass to you as well;you will get drunk and expose yourself.

²²O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete;He will not prolong your exile.But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom;He will expose your sins.

The Mountain of the House of the LORD

¹In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORDwill be established as the chief of the mountains;it will be raised above the hills,and the peoples will stream to it.

²And 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.He will teach us His ways,so that we may walk in His paths.”For the law will go forth from Zionand the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

³Then He will judge between many peoplesand arbitrate for strong nations far and wide.Then they will beat their swords into plowsharesand their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,nor will they train anymore for war.

⁴And each man will sit under his own vineand under his own fig tree,with no one to frighten him.For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.

⁵Though all the nationsmay walk in the name of their gods,yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our Godforever and ever.

The Restoration of Zion

⁶“On that day,” declares the LORD,“I will gather the lame;I will assemble the outcast,even those whom I have afflicted.

⁷And I will make the lame into a remnant,the outcast into a strong nation.Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zionfrom that day and forever.

⁸And you, O watchtower of the flock,O strongholdof the Daughter of Zion—the former dominion will be restored to you;sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”

⁹Why do you now cry aloud?Is there no king among you?Has your counselor perishedso that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?

¹⁰Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,like a woman in labor.For now you will leave the cityand camp in the open fields.You will go to Babylon;there you will be rescued;there the LORD will redeem youfrom the hand of your enemies!

¹¹But now many nationshave assembled against you,saying, “Let her be defiled,and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

¹²But they do not know the thoughts of the LORDor understand His plan,for He has gathered themlike sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹³Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion,for I will give you horns of ironand hooves of bronzeto break to pieces many peoples.Then you will devotetheir gain to the LORD,their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

The Mountain of the House of the LORD

¹This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORDwill be established as the chief of the mountains;it will be raised above the hills,and all nations will stream to it.

³And many peoples will come and say:“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,to the house of the God of Jacob.He will teach us His waysso that we may walk in His paths.”For the law will go forth from Zion,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴Then He will judge between the nationsand arbitrate for many peoples.They will beat their swords into plowsharesand their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,nor train anymore for war.

The Day of Reckoning

⁵Come, O house of Jacob,let us walk in the light of the LORD.

⁶For You have abandoned Your people,the house of Jacob,because they are filledwith influences from the east;they are soothsayers like the Philistines;they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

⁷Their land is full of silver and gold,with no limit to their treasures;their land is full of horses,with no limit to their chariots.

⁸Their land is full of idols;they bow down to the work of their hands,to what their fingers have made.

⁹So mankind is brought low,and man is humbled—do not forgive them!

¹⁰Go into the rocksand hide in the dustfrom the terror of the LORDand the splendor of His majesty.

¹¹The proud look of man will be humbled,and the loftiness of men brought low;the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

¹²For the Day of the LORD of Hostswill come against all the proud and lofty,against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—

¹³against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up,against all the oaks of Bashan,

¹⁴against all the tall mountains,against all the high hills,

¹⁵against every high tower,against every fortified wall,

¹⁶against every ship of Tarshish,and against every stately vessel.

¹⁷So the pride of man will be brought low,and the loftiness of men will be humbled;the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

¹⁸and the idols will vanish completely.

¹⁹Men will flee to caves in the rocksand holes in the ground,away from the terror of the LORDand from the splendor of His majesty,when He rises to shake the earth.

²⁰In that day men will cast awayto the moles and batstheir idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.

²¹They will flee to caverns in the rocksand crevices in the cliffs,away from the terror of the LORDand from the splendor of His majesty,when He rises to shake the earth.

²²Put no more trust in man,who has only the breath in his nostrils.Of what account is he?

To Your Name Be the Glory

¹Not to us, O LORD, not to us,but to Your name be the glory,because of Your loving devotion,because of Your faithfulness.

²Why should the nations say,“Where is their God?”

³Our God is in heaven;He does as He pleases.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold,made by the hands of men.

⁵They have mouths, but cannot speak;they have eyes, but cannot see;

⁶they have ears, but cannot hear;they have noses, but cannot smell;

⁷they have hands, but cannot feel;they have feet, but cannot walk;they cannot even clear their throats.

⁸Those who make them become like them,as do all who trust in them.

⁹O Israel,trust in the LORD!He is their help and shield.

¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!He is their help and shield.

¹¹You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!He is their help and shield.

¹²The LORD is mindful of us;He will bless us.He will bless the house of Israel;He will bless the house of Aaron;

¹³He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.

¹⁴May the LORD give you increase,both you and your children.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶The highest heavens belong to the LORD,but the earth He has given to mankind.

¹⁷It is not the dead who praise the LORD,nor any who descend into silence.

¹⁸But it is we who will bless the LORD,both now and forevermore.Hallelujah!