18. The Lord wants to show his mercy to you.He wants to rise and comfort you.The Lord is a fair God.And everyone who waits for his help will be happy.
19. You people who live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will not cry anymore. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. The Lord will hear you, and he will help you.
20. The Lord has given you sorrow and hurt. It was like the bread and water you ate every day. But he is your teacher, and he will not continue to hide from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21. If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you. It will say, “This is the right way. You should go this way.”
22. You have statues covered with silver and gold. But you will ruin them for further use. You will throw them away like filthy rags. You will say, “Go away!”
23. At that time the Lord will send rain for you. You will plant seeds in the ground, and the ground will grow food for you. The harvest will be very great. You will have plenty of food in the fields for your animals. There will be large fields for your sheep.
24. Your oxen and donkeys will work the soil. They will have all the food they need. You will have to use shovels and pitchforks to spread all the food for your animals to eat.
25. Every mountain and hill will have streams filled with water. These things will happen after many people are killed and the towers are pulled down.
26. At that time the light from the moon will be bright like the sun. The light from the sun will be seven times brighter than now. The light from the sun in one day will be like a full week. These things will happen when the Lord bandages his broken people and heals the hurts he gave them.
27. Look! The Lord comes from far away.His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke.His mouth is filled with anger,and his tongue is like a burning fire.
28. The Lord’s breath is like a rushing river.It rises until it reaches the throat.He will judge the nations as if he is sifting them through the strainer of destruction.He will place in their mouths a bit that will lead them the wrong way.
29. You will sing happy songsas on the nights you begin a festival.You will be happy as people listening to flutesas they go to the mountain of the Lord.The Lord is the Rock of Israel.
30. The Lord will cause all people to hear his great voice.He will cause them to see his powerful arm come down.It will come with anger like a great fire that burns everything.It will be like a great storm with much rain and hail.
31. Assyria will be afraid when it hears the voice of the Lord.The Lord will beat Assyria with a rod.
32. The Lord will punish Assyria with a rod.He will beat them to the music of tambourines and harps.The Lord will fight against them with his mighty weapons.