The Lord God will shout from Zion. He will shout from Jerusalem, and the sky and the earth will shake. But the Lord God will be a safe place for his people. He will be a place of safety for the people of Israel.
At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning in a forest. They will destroy their enemies like fire burning straw. They will destroy the enemy all around them, and the people in Jerusalem will again be able to sit back and relax.”
I will make Judah’s family strong. I will help Joseph’s family win the war. I will bring them back safely and comfort them. It will be as if I never left them. I am the Lord their God, and I will help them.
Then maybe I would turn away from Jacob’s descendants. And then maybe I would not let David’s descendants rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But David is my servant, and I will be kind to those people. I will again cause good things to happen to them.”
The Lord says, “One of their own people will lead them. That ruler will come from my people. People can come close to me only if I ask them to. So I will ask that leader to come to me, and he will be close to me.
“You now have copper, but I will bring you gold. You now have iron, but I will bring you silver. I will change your wood into copper and your rocks into iron. I will change your punishment into peace. And those who punished you will be replaced with those who are kind to you.
I will bring back the kind of judges you had in the beginning. Your counselors will be like those you had long ago. Then you will be called ‘The Good and Faithful City.’”
Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. They demand bribes and accept money for doing wrong. They take money to cheat people, and they don’t speak up for widows and orphans. They will not even listen to their cries for help.
But at that time I will scare the horse, and the soldier riding it will panic. I will make all the enemy horses blind, but my eyes will be open—and I will be watching over Judah’s family.