The day_of_the_Lord will come
1I am very sad.
It is like when people have finished cutting wheat
and picking the last grapes,
and there are no more grapes or figs to eat.
2There is no one in the land
who lives as the Lord wants.
Everyone wants to kill people.
They want to kill each other.
3They know very well how to do wrong.
The officials and judges
ask people to pay them bribes
if they want something.
The important people just say
what they want to have, and they get it.
Together they make plans that are bad.
4The best officials and judges
are like bushes full of thorns.
It seems as if they are living in the right way
but they are bad.
Now the day will come
when the Lord will punish them.
They will not know what to do.
5You can no longer believe
what your friend tells you.
You must be careful what you say to your wife.
6Sons do not respect their fathers anymore,
daughters don't want to listen to their mothers,
and daughters-in-law rebel_against
their mothers-in-law.
A man's family and servants
have now become his enemy.
My God will listen to my prayer
7But I will wait until the Lord comes.
I will wait until my God comes to save me.
My God will listen to my prayer.
The Lord will be good to us
8The people of Jerusalem will say to their enemies:
‘Do not be happy because we have a lot of problems.
We have fallen, but we will stand up again.
We are sitting in the dark
but the Lord will be our light.
9We have sinned_against the Lord,
and that is why we will be satisfied
if He punishes us.
But He will help us again,
and He will bless us.
He will take away the dark
and He will bring light.
He will save us.’
10The people of Jerusalem say:
‘Our enemies will see it
and they will not know what to do.
They asked us:
“Where is the Lord your God?
Why doesn't He help you?”
Now we will see what happens to them.
Their enemies will walk on them and trample them,
like they walk on mud in the streets.’
11Jerusalem, the day is near
when they will build your walls again.
They will build more houses in you.
12On that day people will come to you
from Assyria and from Egypt,
from the Euphrates River and from all over the world.
13But in the other lands, no people will stay alive,
because those people have sinned a lot.
I will help people
14The Lord says:
‘You must look after your people
and care for them.
Let the sheep and goats that belong to you
eat in the field.
They are alone in the forest on Mount Carmel.
They must come back and eat
in the lands of Bashan and Gilead
like they did long ago.’
15The Lord says:
‘I will help my people.
They will again see miracles, like long ago
when you came out of Egypt.’
16The nations will see it
and they will not know what to do.
They will not be able to do anything.
They will cover their mouths
and their ears with their hands.
17They will eat dust like snakes
that crawl on the ground.
They will tremble
and they will come out of their hiding places
and come to the Lord our God.
They will fear and they will be afraid of the Lord.
God will not leave the Israelites
18There is no other God like You.
You forgive our sins.
We are your people, your nation,
the people who are still_alive.
You don't stay angry forever. You love us.
19You will bless us again
and be good to us.
You will trample our sins
and throw them into the sea.
20You will not leave the descendants of Jacob.
You will always love the descendants of Abraham.
You promised this to our forefathers long ago.
