Old/New Testament
People From Many Nations Will Worship at the Lord’s Mountain
4 In the last days
the mountain where the Lord’s temple is located will be famous.
It will be the highest mountain of all.
It will be lifted up above the hills.
And nations will go to it.
2 People from many nations will go there. They will say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain.
Let’s go to the temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how we should live.
Then we will live the way he wants us to.”
The law of the Lord will be taught at Zion.
His message will go out from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between people from many nations.
He’ll settle problems among strong nations everywhere.
They will hammer their swords into plows.
They’ll hammer their spears into pruning tools.
Nations will not go to war against one another.
They won’t even train to fight anymore.
4 Everyone will have
their own vine and fig tree.
And no one will make them afraid.
That’s what the Lord who rules over all has promised.
5 Other nations worship and trust in their gods.
But we will worship and obey the Lord.
He will be our God for ever and ever.
The Lord’s Plan
6 “The time is coming
when I will gather those who are disabled,”
announces the Lord.
“I will bring together those
who were taken away as prisoners.
I will gather those I have allowed to suffer.
7 I will make the disabled my faithful people.
I will make into a strong nation those driven away from their homes.
I will rule over them on Mount Zion.
I will be their King from that time on and forever.
8 Jerusalem, you used to be
like a guard tower for my flock.
City of Zion, you used to be
a place of safety for my people.
The glorious kingdom you had before
will be given back to you.
Once again a king will rule over your people.”
9 Why are you crying out so loudly now?
Don’t you have a king?
Has your ruler died?
Is that why pain comes on you
like the pain of a woman having a baby?
10 People of Zion, groan with pain.
Cry out like a woman having a baby.
Soon you must leave your city.
You must camp in the open fields.
You will have to go to the land of Babylon.
But that’s where the Lord will save you.
There he will set you free
from the power of your enemies.
11 But now many nations
have gathered together to attack you.
They say, “Let Jerusalem be made ‘unclean.’
We want to laugh when Zion suffers!”
12 But those nations don’t know
what the Lord has in mind.
They don’t understand his plan.
He has planned to gather them up like bundles of grain.
He has planned to take them to his threshing floor.
13 The Lord says,
“People of Zion, get up
and crush your enemies.
I will make you like a threshing ox.
I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves.
So you will crush many nations.”
They got their money in the wrong way.
But you will set it apart to the Lord.
You will give their wealth
to the Lord of the whole earth.
A Promised Ruler Will Come From Bethlehem
5 Jerusalem, you are being attacked.
So bring your troops together.
Our enemies have surrounded us.
They want to slap the face of Israel’s ruler.
2 The Lord says,
“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be
an important town in the nation of Judah.
But out of you will come for me
a ruler over Israel.
His family line goes back
to the early years of your nation.
It goes all the way back
to days of long ago.”
3 The Lord will hand over his people to their enemies.
That will last until the pregnant woman bears her promised son.
Then the rest of his relatives in Judah
will return to their land.
4 That promised son will stand firm
and be a shepherd for his flock.
The Lord will give him the strength to do it.
The Lord his God will give him
the authority to rule.
His people will live safely.
His greatness will reach
from one end of the earth to the other.
5 And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians attack our land.
They will march through our forts.
But we will raise up against them many shepherds.
We’ll send out against them
as many commanders as we need to.
6 They will use their swords to rule over Assyria.
They’ll rule the land of Nimrod
with swords that are ready to strike.
The Assyrians will march across our borders
and attack our land.
But the promised ruler will save us from them.
7 Jacob’s people who are still left alive
will be scattered among many nations.
They will be like dew the Lord has sent.
Dew doesn’t depend on any human being.
They will be like rain that falls on the grass.
Rain doesn’t wait for someone to give it orders.
8 So Jacob’s people will be scattered
among many nations.
They will be like a lion
among the animals in the forest.
They’ll be like a young lion
among flocks of sheep.
Lions attack and tear apart their prey as they move along.
No one can keep them
from killing what they want.
9 Lord, your power will win the battle
over your enemies.
All of them will be destroyed.
10 “At that time I will destroy
your war horses,” announces the Lord.
“I will smash your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your land.
I will tear down all your forts.
12 I will destroy your worship of evil powers.
You will no longer be able
to put a spell on anyone.
13 I will destroy the statues of your gods.
I will take your sacred stones away from you.
You will no longer bow down
to the gods your hands have made.
14 I will pull down the poles you used
to worship the female god named Asherah.
That will happen when I completely destroy your cities.
15 I will pay back the nations
that have not obeyed me.
I will direct my anger against them.”
The Woman and the Dragon
12 A great sign appeared in heaven. It was a woman wearing the sun like clothes. The moon was under her feet. On her head she wore a crown of 12 stars. 2 She was pregnant. She cried out in pain because she was about to have a baby. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. On its seven heads it wore seven crowns. 4 The dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. It threw the stars down to earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to have a baby. The dragon wanted to eat her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son. He “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” (Psalm 2:9) And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman escaped into the desert where God had a place prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then a war began in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon wasn’t strong enough. Both he and his angels lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is that old serpent called the devil, or Satan. He leads the whole world astray.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. It said,
“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come.
The authority of his Messiah has come.
Satan, who brings charges against our brothers and sisters,
has been thrown down.
He brings charges against them in front of our God day and night.
11 They had victory over him
by the blood the Lamb spilled for them.
They had victory over him
by speaking the truth about Jesus to others.
They were willing to risk their lives,
even if it led to death.
12 So be joyful, you heavens!
Be glad, all you who live there!
But how terrible it will be for the earth and the sea!
The devil has come down to you.
He is very angry.
He knows his time is short.”
13 The dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he chased the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle. She was given these wings so that she could fly away. She could fly to the place prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and a half years. She would be out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then out of his mouth the serpent spit water like a river. He wanted to catch the woman and sweep her away in the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman. It opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had spit out. 17 The dragon was very angry with the woman. He went off to make war against the rest of her children. They obey God’s commands. And they hold firmly to the truth they have said about Jesus.
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