Listen, ¹  your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes ²  the Lord’s return to Zion.

The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you; all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet. They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹ 

“For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem ¹  I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly ²  and her deliverance burns like a torch.”

Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ¹  “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him and his reward goes before him!’” ² 

Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion ¹  and over its convocations a cloud and smoke by day and a bright flame of fire by night; ²  indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. ³ 

But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies, by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. ¹  The tribute ²  will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. ³ 

It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹  It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ²  So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals! You ¹  will see Jerusalem, ²  a peaceful settlement, a tent that stays put; ³  its stakes will never be pulled up; none of its ropes will snap in two.

Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹  Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Happiness and joy will be restored to ¹  her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, O Jerusalem, ¹  holy city! For uncircumcised and unclean pagans will no longer invade you.

to strengthen those who mourn in Zion, by giving them a turban, instead of ashes, oil symbolizing joy, ¹  instead of mourning, a garment symbolizing praise, ²  instead of discouragement. ³  They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁴  trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ⁵ 

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me: “The Lord will be like a growling lion, like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹  Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it, it is not afraid of their shouts or intimidated by their yelling. ²  In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³