Rejoice with Jerusalem

7  n“Before she was in labor

she gave birth;

before her pain came upon her

she delivered a son.

8  Who has heard such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Shall a land be born in one day?

Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?

For nas soon as Zion was in labor

she brought forth her children.

9  Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”

says the Lord;

“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”

says your God.

10  o“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,

all you who love her;

rejoice with her in joy,

all you who mourn over her;

11  that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her consoling breast;

that you may drink deeply with delight

from her glorious abundance.”1

12  For thus says the Lord:

p“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

and qyou shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,

and bounced upon her knees.

13  As one whom his mother comforts,

so rI will comfort you;

you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14  You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

syour bones shall flourish like the grass;

and tthe hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,

and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

15  “For behold, uthe Lord will come in fire,

and vhis chariots like the whirlwind,

to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16  For wby fire xwill the Lord enter into judgment,

and by his sword, with all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

17 y“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, zeating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

18 “For I know2 their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming3 ato gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them bI will send survivors to the nations, to cTarshish, dPul, and dLud, who draw the bow, to eTubal and eJavan, fto the coastlands far away, gthat have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 hAnd they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ias an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 jAnd some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

22  “For as kthe new heavens and the new earth

that I make

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so lshall your offspring and your name remain.