‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. ¹  A star ²  will march forth ³  out of Jacob, and a scepter ⁴  will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls ⁵  of Moab, and the heads ⁶  of all the sons of Sheth. ⁷ 

Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ¹  on the earth, and ask ²  from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, ¹  and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ¹  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ²  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ³  other gods,

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots ²  I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars, and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ³  its thickest woods.

At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will again lift his hand ³  to reclaim ⁴  the remnant of his people ⁵  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ⁶  Cush, ⁷  Elam, Shinar, ⁸  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ⁹ 

Tell me! Present the evidence! ¹  Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the Lord? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; ²  there is none but me.

I hear my dear people ¹  crying out ²  throughout the length and breadth of the land. ³  They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is her divine King ⁴  no longer there?’” The Lord answers, ⁵  “Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?” ⁶ 

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power ¹  over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob.

I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.

You will advance ¹  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ²  through you, O Gog.

In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished. He will distribute loot, spoils, and property to his followers, and he will devise plans against fortified cities, but not for long. ¹ 

Twist and strain, ¹  Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor! For you will leave the city and live in the open field. You will go to Babylon, but there you will be rescued. There the Lord will deliver ²  you from the power ³  of your enemies.

He will assume his post ¹  and shepherd the people ²  by the Lord’s strength, by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ³  They will live securely, ⁴  for at that time he will be honored ⁵  even in the distant regions of ⁶  the earth.

Then those who are far away ¹  will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”’”

The queen of the South ¹  will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ²  something greater than Solomon is here!

The queen of the South ¹  will rise up at the judgment ²  with the people ³  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁴  something greater ⁵  than Solomon is here!