4:1 In the future1 the Lord’s temple mount will be the most important mountain of all;2
it will be more prominent than other hills.3
People will stream to it,
4:2 and many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple4 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands,5
and we can live by his laws.”6
For Zion will be the source of instruction,
and the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem.7
4:3 He will arbitrate8 between many peoples,
and mediate for many9 distant nations.10
They will beat their swords into plowing implements,
and their spears into pruning tools.
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear.11
The Lord who leads armies has decreed it.12
4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods,13
we will follow14 the Lord our God forever.
Restoration Will Follow Crisis
4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured.15
4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation,16
and those far off17 into a mighty nation.
The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,
from that day forward and forevermore.”18
4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock,19
fortress of Daughter Zion20—
your former dominion will be restored,21
the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.
4:9 Jerusalem, why are you22 now shouting so loudly?23
Has your king disappeared?24
Has your wise leader25 been destroyed?
Is this why26 pain grips27 you as if you were a woman in labor?
4:10 Twist and strain,28 Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!
For you will leave the city
and live in the open field.
You will go to Babylon,
but there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will deliver29 you
from the power30 of your enemies.
4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.
They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated,31
so we can gloat over Zion!”32
4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;
they do not understand his strategy.
He has gathered them like stalks of grain at the threshing floor.
4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns;33
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will pulverize many nations.”34
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler of the whole earth.35