II. Oracles of Salvation
Chapter 4
1 In days to come
the mount of the Lord’s house
Shall be established as the highest mountain;
it shall be raised above the hills,
And peoples shall stream to it:(A)
2 Many nations shall come, and say,
“Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
that we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples
and set terms for strong and distant nations;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
4 They shall all sit under their own vines,
under their own fig trees, undisturbed;
for the Lord of hosts has spoken.(B)
5 Though all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
We will walk in the name of the Lord,
our God, forever and ever.
6 On that day—oracle of the Lord—
I will gather the lame,
And I will assemble the outcasts,
and those whom I have afflicted.
7 I will make of the lame a remnant,
and of the weak a strong nation;
The Lord shall be king over them on Mount Zion,
from now on and forever.(C)
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of daughter Zion!
To you it shall come:
the former dominion shall be restored,
the reign of daughter Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry out so?
Are you without a king?
Or has your adviser perished,
That you are seized with pains
like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe, go into labor,
O daughter Zion,
like a woman giving birth;
For now you shall leave the city
and camp in the fields;
To Babylon you shall go,
there you shall be rescued.
There the Lord shall redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 And now many nations are gathered against you!
They say, “Let her be profaned,
let our eyes see Zion’s downfall!”
12 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
nor understand his plan:
He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter Zion;
your horn I will make iron
And your hoofs I will make bronze,
that you may crush many peoples;
You shall devote their spoils to the Lord,
their riches to the Lord of the whole earth.(D)
14 Now grieve, O grieving daughter!
“They have laid siege against us!”
With the rod they strike on the cheek
the ruler of Israel.
Footnotes
- 4:1–4
- 4:6–8
- 4:8
- 4:10
- 4:11–13
- 4:13
- 4:14
Cross references
- 4:1–3 : Is 2:2–4.
- 4:4 : Hos 14:8; Am 9:14.
- 4:7 : Is 6:13; Dn 7:14; Zep 3:19; Lk 1:32.
- 4:13 : Is 41:15; Hos 10:11.
