3:2 She is disobedient; 1
she refuses correction. 2
She does not trust the Lord;
she does not seek the advice of 3 her God.
3:3 Her princes 4 are as fierce as roaring lions; 5
her rulers 6 are as hungry as wolves in the desert, 7
who completely devour their prey by morning. 8
3:4 Her prophets are proud; 9
they are deceitful men.
Her priests defile what is holy; 10
they break God’s laws. 11
3:5 The just Lord resides 12 within her;
he commits no unjust acts. 13
Every morning he reveals 14 his justice.
At dawn he appears without fail. 15
Yet the unjust know no shame.
3:6 “I destroyed 16 nations;
their walled cities 17 are in ruins.
I turned their streets into ruins;
no one passes through them.
Their cities are desolate; 18
no one lives there. 19
3:7 I thought, 20 ‘Certainly you will respect 21 me!
Now you will accept correction!’
If she had done so, her home 22 would not be destroyed 23
by all the punishments I have threatened. 24
But they eagerly sinned
in everything they did. 25
3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently 26 for me,” says the Lord,
“for the day when I attack and take plunder. 27
I have decided 28 to gather nations together
and assemble kingdoms,
so I can pour out my fury on them –
all my raging anger.
For 29 the whole earth will be consumed
by my fiery anger.
3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable
the nations to give me acceptable praise. 30
All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, 31
and will worship him in unison. 32
3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 33
those who pray to me 34 will bring me tribute.
3:11 In that day you 35 will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me, 36
for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast, 37
and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.
3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, 38
and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. 39
3:13 The Israelites who remain 40 will not act deceitfully.
They will not lie,
and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.
Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep 41 and lie down;
no one will terrify them.”
3:14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion! 42
Shout out, Israel!
Be happy and boast with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!
3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; 43
he has turned back your enemy.
Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!
You no longer need to fear disaster.
3:16 On that day they will say 44 to Jerusalem,
“Don’t be afraid, Zion!
Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! 45
3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;
he is a warrior who can deliver.
He takes great delight in you; 46
he renews you by his love; 47
he shouts for joy over you.” 48
3:18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals –
I took them away from you;
they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. 49
3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.
I will rescue the lame sheep 50
and gather together the scattered sheep.
I will take away their humiliation
and make the whole earth admire and respect them. 51
3:20 At that time I will lead you –
at the time I gather you together. 52
Be sure of this! 53 I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you 54
when you see me restore you,” 55 says the Lord.