Old/New Testament
The Mountain of the Lord
4 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
and people from other nations will come streaming to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Temple of the God of Jacob,
so that he can teach us his ways,
and we can obey his teachings.”
His teachings will go out from Jerusalem,
the word of the Lord from that city.
3 The Lord will judge many nations;
he will make decisions about strong nations that are far away.
They will hammer their swords into plow blades
and their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer raise swords against other nations;
they will not train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree,
and no one will make him afraid,
because the Lord All-Powerful has said it.
5 All other nations may follow their own gods,
but we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.
6 The Lord says, “At that time,
I will gather the crippled;
I will bring together those who were sent away,
those whom I caused to have trouble.
7 I will keep alive those who were crippled,
and I will make a strong nation of those who were sent away.
The Lord will be their king in Mount Zion from now on and forever.
8 And you, watchtower of the flocks,[a] hill of Jerusalem,
to you will come the kingdom as in the past.
Jerusalem, the right to rule will come again to you.”
Why the Israelites Must Go to Babylon
9 Now, why do you cry so loudly?
Is your king gone?
Have you lost your helper,
so that you are in pain, like a woman trying to give birth?
10 People of Jerusalem, strain and be in pain.
Be like a woman trying to give birth,
because now you must leave the city
and live in the field.
You will go to Babylon,
but you will be saved from that place.
The Lord will go there
and buy you back from your enemies.
11 But now many nations
have come to fight against you,
saying, “Let’s destroy Jerusalem.
We will look at her and be glad we have defeated her.”
12 But they don’t know
what the Lord is thinking;
they don’t understand his plan.
He has gathered them like bundles of grain to the threshing floor.
13 “Get up and beat them, people of Jerusalem.
I will make you strong as if you had horns of iron
and hoofs of bronze.
You will beat many nations into small pieces
and give their wealth to the Lord,
their treasure to the Lord of all the earth.”
5 So, strong city, gather your soldiers together,
because we are surrounded and attacked.
They will hit the leader of Israel
in the face with a club.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are too small to be among the army groups from Judah,
from you will come one who will rule Israel for me.
He comes from very old times,
from days long ago.”
3 The Lord will give up his people
until the one who is having a baby gives birth;
then the rest of his relatives will return
to the people of Israel.
4 At that time the ruler of Israel will stand
and take care of his people
with the Lord’s strength
and with the power of the name of the Lord his God.
The Israelites will live in safety,
because his greatness will reach all over the earth.
5 He will bring peace.
Rescue and Punishment
Assyria will surely come into our country
and walk over our large buildings.
We will set up seven shepherds,
eight leaders of the people.
6 They will destroy the Assyrians with their swords;
they will conquer the land of Assyria with their swords drawn.
They will rescue us from the Assyrians when they come into our land,
when they walk over our borders.
7 Then the people of Jacob who are left alive
will be to other people
like dew from the Lord
or rain on the grass—
it does not wait for human beings;
it does not pause for any person.
8 Those of Jacob’s people who are left alive
will be scattered among many nations and peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion in a flock of sheep:
As it goes, it jumps on them
and tears them to pieces,
and no one can save them.
9 So you will raise your fist in victory over your enemies,
and all your enemies will be destroyed.
10 The Lord says, “At that time,
I will take your horses from you
and destroy your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your country
and tear down all your defenses.
12 I will take away the magic charms you use
so you will have no more fortune-tellers.
13 I will destroy your statues of gods
and the stone pillars you worship
so that you will no longer worship
what your hands have made.
14 I will tear down Asherah idols from you
and destroy your cities.
15 In my anger and rage,
I will pay back the nations that have not listened.”
The Woman and the Dragon
12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: A woman was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars was on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out with pain, because she was about to give birth. 3 Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon with seven heads and seven crowns on each head. He also had ten horns. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth so he could eat her baby as soon as it was born. 5 Then the woman gave birth to a son who will rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman ran away into the desert to a place God prepared for her where she would be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
7 Then there was a war in heaven. Michael[a] and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough, and he and his angels lost their place in heaven. 9 The giant dragon was thrown down out of heaven. (He is that old snake called the devil or Satan, who tricks the whole world.) The dragon with his angels was thrown down to the earth.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying:
“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have now come.
The accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accused them day and night before our God,
has been thrown down.
11 And our brothers and sisters defeated him
by the blood of the Lamb’s death
and by the message they preached.
They did not love their lives so much
that they were afraid of death.
12 So rejoice, you heavens
and all who live there!
But it will be terrible for the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you!
He is filled with anger,
because he knows he does not have much time.”
13 When the dragon saw he had been thrown down to the earth, he hunted for the woman who had given birth to the son. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and one-half years, away from the snake. 15 Then the snake poured water out of its mouth like a river toward the woman so the flood would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that came from the mouth of the dragon. 17 Then the dragon was very angry at the woman, and he went off to make war against all her other children—those who obey God’s commands and who have the message Jesus taught.
18 And the dragon[b] stood on the seashore.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.