The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you won’t understand,
He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; he will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
‘My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place because my name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of Armies.
Their horses are swifter than leopards and fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.
Raise a signal flag in the land; blow a ram’s horn among the nations; set apart the nations against her. Summon kingdoms against her – Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like a swarm of locusts.
I am about to bring a nation from far away against you, house of Israel. This is the Lord’s declaration. It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, ‘What did these men say, and where did they come to you from? ’ Hezekiah replied, ‘They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.’
Listen, a commotion on the mountains, like that of a mighty people! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations being gathered together! The Lord of Armies is mobilising an army for war.
His rock will pass away because of fear, and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag. This is the Lord’s declaration #– #whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
‘ “This is what the Lord God says: Are you the one I spoke about in former times through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who for years prophesied in those times that I would bring you against them?