4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 1 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 2
and we can live by his laws.” 3
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 4
4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns; 5
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.” 6
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler 7 of the whole earth. 8
5:7 Those survivors from 9 Jacob will live 10
in the midst of many nations. 11
They will be like the dew the Lord sends,
like the rain on the grass,
that does not hope for men to come
or wait around for humans to arrive. 12
5:8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which attacks when it passes through;
it rips its prey 13 and there is no one to stop it. 14
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 15
you follow their policies. 16
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 17
the city’s 18 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 19
and nations will mock all of you.” 20
1 tn Heb “house.”
2 tn Heb “ways.”
3 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
4 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”
6 sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.
7 tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”
8 tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.
sn In vv. 11-13 the prophet jumps from the present crisis (which will result in exile, v. 10) to a time beyond the restoration of the exiles when God will protect his city from invaders. The
9 tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).
10 tn Heb “will be.”
11 tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).
12 tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”
sn Men wait eagerly for the dew and the rain, not vice versa. Just as the dew and rain are subject to the
13 tn The words “its prey” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
14 tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”
15 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
16 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
sn The Omride dynasty, of which Ahab was the most infamous king, had a reputation for implementing unjust and oppressive measures. See 1 Kgs 21.
17 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
18 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
20 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
tn Heb “and the reproach of my people you will bear.” The second person verb is plural here, in contrast to the singular forms used in vv. 13-15.