66
Yahweh will judge all the nations
1 Yahweh also said this:
“All of heaven is like my throne,
and the whole earth is like my footstool.
So you could certainly not [RHQ] build a house
that would be adequate for me to live in and rest!
2 I have created everything;
all things exist because I made them.
That is true because I, Yahweh have said it.
The people whom I am most pleased with are those who are humble,
who patiently endure it when they are afflicted,
and who tremble when they hear me rebuking them.
3 Some of you slaughter oxen to sacrifice them to me,
but you also bring human sacrifices to your idols!
You sacrifice lambs to me,
but you kill dogs to offer them to your gods.
You offer grain to me,
but you also bring pigs' blood to your idols.
You burn incense to me,
but you also praise your idols.
You delight to do those disgusting things.
4 When I called out to you,
you did not answer.
You did many things that I said are evil,
and you chose to do things that I did not like.
So now I will punish you by causing you to experience the things that you are very afraid of.”
Yahweh will help the people of Jerusalem
5 But you people who tremble when you hear what Yahweh says,
listen to what he says now:
“Some of your own people hate you and have turned against you
because you belong to me.
They make fun of you and then they say,
'Yahweh should show his power!
We want to see him do something to cause you to be truly happy.'
But some day those who say things like that will be very disgraced.”
6 Listen to the noise in the city!
Listen to the shouting in the temple!
It is the sound of Yahweh shouting
while he is punishing his enemies!
7 No one [RHQ] ever heard that a woman gave birth to a baby
before having birth pains.
8 No one ever heard about such a thing,
and no one has ever seen it happen.
Similarly, no one ever heard that a nation was created in one instant,
or even in one day.
But Jerusalem is like a woman who gives birth to her children
as soon as she starts to have birth pains.
9 Yahweh is not someone who brings an infant to the time when it is ready to be born and then does not allow it to be born.
Similarly, he will do for Jerusalem what he has promised:
he will cause Jerusalem to be full of people again.
That will happen because, Yahweh has said it.
10 You people in [APO] Jerusalem, rejoice!
And all you people who love Jerusalem should also be happy.
You people who were sad because of what happened to Jerusalem,
you should now be glad.
11 You people in Jerusalem will have everything that you need
like [MET] a baby that gets all it needs from its mother's breasts.
You will enjoy all the abundant and glorious things [MET] in the city.
12 Yahweh has promised,
“I will cause Jerusalem to be full of valuable things that come from other nations;
those things will pour into Jerusalem like a big flood.
I will take care of the people of Jerusalem
like women care for the babies that they nurse.
13 I will comfort you people in Jerusalem like mothers comfort their children.”
14 When you see those things happen,
you will rejoice.
The strength in your old bones will revive
like [SIM] grass in the springtime.
When that happens, everyone will know that Yahweh helps those who worship and obey him,
but that he is angry with his enemies.
15 Yahweh will come down with flames of fire
and his chariots will come down like a whirlwind;
he will be extremely angry,
and he will punish his enemies by burning them in a fire.
16 It is as though Yahweh has a big sword,
and he will judge and execute many people.
17 Yahweh says, “Some of you people purify/bathe yourselves and then go to a garden to worship your gods. You eat the meat of pigs and lizards and mice, all things that I have forbidden you to eat. So I will get rid of you for doing that.
18 I know all the evil things that you think and do. It is now time to gather together the people who live in all nations and who speak all languages, and to show them that I am very great.
19 I will put a mark on them, and those whom I have spared will go to various distant countries: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, Javan, and to distant islands. I will send them to proclaim to nations that have never heard about me how great and glorious I am.
20 Then they will bring your relatives who have been in exile back here, to be like an offering to me.
They will come on horses, in chariots, on mules, and on camels.
They will come to Zion, my sacred Hill.
That will be like the offerings that the people of Israel used to bring in the right way to the temple.
21 I solemnly promise that some of the people who return will be priests, and others will do other work in my temple.
That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.
22 I also promise that just as the new heaven and the new earth will last forever,
you will always have descendants.
23 At every festival to celebrate the Sabbath and the new moon,
everyone will worship me.
That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.
24 Then my people will go out of the city and look at the corpses of those who rebelled against me.
The maggots in those corpses will never die, the fire will never stop burning them, and everyone who sees their corpses will detest them.”
Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.