Isaiah 60:1-22

Zion's future glory

1 Stand up! Shine brightly!

Now your light has come!

The Lord's glory has risen to shine on you.

2 Look! Darkness covers all the earth and its people.

But the Lord shines his light on you,

so that his glory appears over you.

3 People of other nations will come to your light.

Kings will come to see the light of a new day that shines on you.

4 Look all round you!

All your people are coming together to return to you.

Your sons are coming from far away,

and they carry your daughters in their arms.

5 As you see this, your eyes will shine with joy.

Your hearts will beat fast,

and you will be proud to see them.

Traders will bring valuable things to you

from lands across the seas.

The riches of other nations will come to you.

6 Traders will bring things on their camels

so that your roads are full.

Young camels will come from Midian

and from Ephah.

People will come from Sheba.

They will bring gold and incense.

They will sing aloud to praise the Lord.

7 All the sheep and goats in Kedar will come to you.

They will give you sheep from Nebaioth,

and I will accept them as sacrifices on my altar.

I will make my temple great and beautiful.

8 See those ships that sail along like clouds!

They come like doves that are flying to their homes.

9 People from lands across the seas are coming to find me.

Their big ships are leading them.

They are bringing your children from far away,

as well as silver and gold.

They come to give honour to the name of the Lord your God.

He is Israel's Holy God.

They come here because he has shown that you are great.

10 Foreign people will build your walls again.

Their kings will be your servants.

I punished you when I was angry with you.

But now I will show my grace

and I will be kind to you.

11 The gates of your city will always be open.

People will never close them,

during the day or during the night.

Then other nations will bring their riches to you,

and their kings will lead them.

12 Any nation or kingdom that refuses to serve you

will come to an end.

Enemies will completely destroy those nations.

13 The beautiful things of Lebanon will come to you.

They will bring you its pine trees,

its fir trees and its cypress trees.

The wood will make my temple beautiful.

I will cause my home on earth to be great!

14 The descendants of your cruel enemies will come to you.

They will bend down low in front of you.

Everybody who insulted you before

will now give you honour.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion that is home for Israel's Holy God.’

15 At one time, people kept away from you,

and they hated you.

Nobody travelled through you.

But now I will make you a great city,

so that people will be proud of you for ever.

Your people and their descendants will be very happy.

16 Other nations and their kings

will give you everything that you need.

They will be like mothers

who feed their babies with their milk.

Then you will know that I, the Lord,

have made you safe.

You will know that I am your Redeemer,

the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 I will bring you gold instead of bronze.

I will bring you silver instead of iron.

I will give you bronze to use, instead of wood.

I will give you iron instead of stones.

I will cause peace to be your city's leader.

Righteousness will rule over you.

18 You will not hear the noise of violence in your land any more.

Inside its borders,

nobody will fight wars or destroy things.

You will call your city's walls ‘Salvation’,

and you will call your city's gates ‘Praise’.

19 You will no longer need the sun

to give you light in the day again.

You will not need the moon to shine at night.

Instead, the Lord will be the light

that shines on you for ever.

Yes, your God will be the light

that brings you honour.

20 Your sun will never go down again

and your moon will never disappear.

That is because the Lord will be the light

that shines on you for ever.

Then your sad days will come to an end.

21 All your people will be righteous.

The land will belong to them for ever.

I myself will plant them in the ground

like a young plant.

As they grow, they will show how great I am.

22 The least important person among you

will become a great family.

The smallest person will become a large nation.

I am the Lord.

When the right time comes,

I will cause it to happen quickly!