2
A message about future peace in Judah
1 This is the message that Yahweh showed me in a vision, concerning Jerusalem and the rest of Judea:
2 I saw that in the future, the hill on which Yahweh’s temple is built
will be the most important place on the earth;
it will be as though it is the highest mountain,
as though it has been raised up above all other hills;
and people from all over the world will come there.
3 People from many people-groups will say to each other,
“Come, let’s go up to the hill,
to the temple of Yahweh,
to worship the God whom Jacob worshiped.
There Yahweh will teach us what he desires us to know,
in order that our behavior will please him.
His teaching will be given to us in Jerusalem,
and we will take his message from Jerusalem to other places/nations.
4 Yahweh will listen to the disputes between nations
and he will settle their arguments.
Then, instead of fighting against each other, they will hammer their swords into plow blades,
and they will hammer their spears into pruning knives.
The armies of nations will no longer fight against each other,
and they will not even train men to fight in battles/wars.”
5 You Israeli people,
let’s walk in the light [MET] that comes from Yahweh!
A warning about the coming judgment
6 Yahweh, you have abandoned us your people
who are descendants of Jacob,
because everywhere your people practice the customs of people who live east of Israel.
Your people also perform rituals to find out what will happen in the future, like the people in Philistia do.
They make agreements/treaties with ◄pagans/people who do not know you►.
7 Israel is full of silver and gold;
there are very many ◄treasures/valuable things► here.
The land is full of war horses
and war chariots.
8 But the land is also full of idols;
the people worship things that they have made with their own hands.
9 So now they will be humbled
and they will be caused to become disgraced—
Yahweh, do not forgive them!
10 All you people should crawl into the caves in the rock cliffs!
You should hide in pits/holes in the ground
because of being afraid of Yahweh
and of his glorious and awesome power.
11 Yahweh will cause you people to no longer be arrogant,
and he will stop you from being proud.
Only Yahweh will be praised/honored on that day.
12 The Commander of the armies of angels has chosen a day
when he will judge those who are proud, every one of them [DOU],
and he will humble them.
13 He will get rid of all those who think they should be admired like [MET] the tall cedar trees in Lebanon,
and like all the great oak trees in the Bashan region.
14 He will get rid of all those who think they are as great as [MET] all the high hills
and even the high mountains.
15 He will get rid of all those who think that they are high towers
and high strong walls inside of or behind which they will be safe.
16 He will destroy all those who are rich because they own big ships that carry goods to other countries
and they own other beautiful ships.
17 He will cause people to no longer be arrogant
and he will cause them to stop being proud.
Only Yahweh will be praised/honored on that day.
18 All idols will ◄disappear/be destroyed►.
19 When Yahweh comes to shake/terrify the people on the earth,
they will run to hide in caves in rock cliffs
and in holes/pits in the ground,
because of being afraid of Yahweh
and of his glorious and awesome power.
20 On that day, people will get rid of all their gold and silver idols
that they made to worship,
and they will throw them to the bats and rats.
21 Then they will crawl into caves
and hide in the crags in the cliffs.
They will do that to escape from the dreadful punishments that Yahweh will cause them to endure,
from what he will do because he is glorious and awesome,
when he comes to shake/terrify the people on the earth.
22 So, do not trust that people will save you,
because people are as powerless as [MET] their own breath.
People certainly cannot help you [RHQ]!