The Lord's Universal Reign of Peace
(Isaiah 2.2-4)1 In days to come
the mountain where the Temple stands
will be the highest one of all,
towering above all the hills.
Many nations will come streaming to it,
2 and their people will say,
“Let us go up the hill of the Lord,
to the Temple of Israel's God.
He will teach us what he wants us to do;
we will walk in the paths he has chosen.
For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem;
from Zion he speaks to his people.”
3 He will settle disputes among the nations,
among the great powers near and far.
They will hammer their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will never again go to war,
never prepare for battle again.
4 Everyone will live in peace
among their own vineyards and fig trees,
and no one will make them afraid.
The Lord Almighty has promised this.
5 Each nation worships and obeys its own god, but we will worship and obey the Lord our God forever and ever.
Israel Will Return from Exile
6 “The time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will gather together the people I punished, those who have suffered in exile. 7 They are crippled and far from home, but I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and forever.”
8 And you, Jerusalem, where God, like a shepherd from his lookout tower, watches over his people, will once again be the capital of the kingdom that was yours. 9 Why do you cry out so loudly? Why are you suffering like a woman in labor? Is it because you have no king, and your counselors are dead? 10 Twist and groan, people of Jerusalem, like a woman giving birth, for now you will have to leave the city and live in the open country. You will have to go to Babylon, but there the Lord will save you from your enemies. 11 Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, “Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!” 12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed.
13 The Lord says, “People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world.”
Peace and Prosperity
1 In the future, the mountain
with the Lord's temple
will be the highest of all.
It will reach above the hills,
and every nation
will rush to it.
2 People of many nations
will come and say,
“Let's go up to the mountain
of the Lord God of Jacob
and worship in his temple.”
The Lord will teach us his Law
from Jerusalem,
and we will obey him.
3 He will settle arguments
between distant
and powerful nations.
They will pound their swords
and their spears
into rakes and shovels;
they will never again make war
or attack one another.
4 Everyone will find rest
beneath their own fig trees
or grape vines,
and they will live in peace.
This is a solemn promise
of the Lord All-Powerful.
5 Others may follow their gods,
but we will always follow
the Lord our God.
The Lord Will Lead His People Home
6 The Lord said:
At that time
I will gather my people—
the lame and the outcasts,
and all others into whose lives
I have brought sorrow.
7 Then the lame and the outcasts
will belong to my people
and become a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will rule them
from Mount Zion forever.
8 Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
guardian of my people,
you will rule again.
9 Jerusalem, why are you crying?
Don't you have a king?
Have your advisors gone?
Are you suffering
like a woman in childbirth?
10 Keep on groaning with pain,
you people of Jerusalem!
If you escape from your city
to the countryside,
you will still be taken
as prisoners to Babylonia.
But later I will rescue you
from your enemies.
11 Zion, because of your sins
you are surrounded
by many nations who say,
“We can hardly wait
to see you disgraced.”
12 But they don't know
that I, the Lord,
have gathered them here
to grind them like grain.
13 Smash them to pieces, Zion!
I'll let you be like a bull
with iron horns
and bronze hoofs.
Crush those nations
and bring their wealth to me,
the Lord of the earth.