1 But in the last
days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of
the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto
it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go
up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God
of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word
of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations
afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up
a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his
fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of
the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god,
and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and
ever.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have
afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was
cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over
them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter
of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the
kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee?
is thy counseller perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman
in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of
the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt
go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the
LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say,
Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand
they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into
the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine
horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat
in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto
the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
Chapter 5
1 Now gather thyself
in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against
us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the
cheek.
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth
unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which
travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren
shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in
the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall
abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come
into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then
shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal
men.
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and
the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver
us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when
he treadeth within our borders.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people
as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that
tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the
midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest,
as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through,
both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and
all thine enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will
destroy thy chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down
all thy strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou
shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images
out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the
work of thine hands.
14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee:
so will I destroy thy cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen,
such as they have not heard.
Chapter 6
1 Hear ye now what
the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and
let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD's controversy, and ye strong
foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with
his people, and he will plead with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have
I wearied thee? testify against me.
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed
thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto
Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before
the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves of a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God?
9 The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom
shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed
it.
10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of
the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with
the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants
thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their
mouth.
13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in
making thee desolate because of thy sins.
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down
shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but
shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give
up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread
the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet
wine, but shalt not drink wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should
make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing:
therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
Chapter 7
1 Woe is me! for
I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings
of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired
the firstripe fruit.
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none
upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt
every man his brother with a net.
3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince
asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man,
he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper
than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation
cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide:
keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up
against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in
law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
7 Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God
of my salvation: my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall
arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto
me.
9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned
against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for
me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold
his righteousness.
10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall
cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine
eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the
mire of the streets.
11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall
the decree be far removed.
12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria,
and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to
the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them
that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage,
which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel:
let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt
will I shew unto him marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might:
they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall
be deaf.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move
out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid
of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in
mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will
subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into
the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham,
which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. |