After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look around you. Look north and south and east and west.
Isaiah 49:18 - Easy To Read Version Look up! Look all around you!\par All of your children are gathering together and coming to you.\par Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Lift up your eyes round about and see [the returning exiles, ready to rebuild Jerusalem]; all these gather together and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you [Zion] shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament and bind them on you as a bride does. American Standard Version (1901) Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride. Common English Bible Look up all around and see: they are all gathered; they come to you. As surely as I live, says the LORD, you will put them all on like ornaments, bind them on like a bride. Catholic Public Domain Version Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these have been gathered together; they have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall be clothed with all these things, as if with an ornament. And like a bride, you shall wrap these things all around you. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Lift up thy eyes round about, and see. All these are gathered together; they are come to thee. I live, saith the Lord. Thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament: and as a bride thou shalt put them about thee. |
After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, “Look around you. Look north and south and east and west.
The angel said, “You were ready to kill your son for me. This was your only son. Because you did this for me, I make you this promise: I, the Lord, promise that
Grandchildren make old people happy. And children are proud of their parents.
“I make this promise by my own power. And when I make a promise, that promise is true. The thing I promise will happen! And I promise that every person will bow before me (God). And every person will promise \{to follow me\}.
“Look! People are coming to me\par from faraway places.\par People are coming to me\par from the north and from the west.\par People are coming to me\par from Aswan in Egypt.”\par
The Lord my Master says,\par “Look, I will wave my hand to the nations.\par I will raise my flag for all people to see.\par Then they will bring your children to you.\par Those people will carry your children\par on their shoulders,\par and they will hold them in their arms.\par
Wake up! Wake up Zion! {\cf2\super [420]} \par Dress yourself!\par Put on your strength!\par Holy Jerusalem, stand up!\par People that have not agreed\par to follow God {\cf2\super [421]} \par will not enter you again.\par Those people are not pure and clean.\par
God says,\par “I left you,\par but only for a short time.\par I will gather you to me again.\par And I will show you great kindness.\par
God says,\par “Remember, in Noah’s time\par I punished the world with the flood.\par But I made a promise to Noah\par that I would never again\par destroy the world with a flood.\par \{In the same way,\} I promise you\par that I will never again get angry at you\par and say bad things to you.”\par
“The Lord makes me very, very happy.\par My whole self is happy in my God.\par The Lord put the clothes of salvation on me.\par These clothes are like the nice clothes\par a man wears at his wedding.\par The Lord put the coat of goodness on me.\par This coat is like the beautiful clothes\par a woman wears at her wedding.\par
And they will bring all your brothers and sisters from all nations. They will bring your brothers and sisters to my holy mountain, {\cf2\super [486]} Jerusalem. Your brothers and sisters will come on horses, donkeys, camels, and in chariots and wagons. Your brothers and sisters will be like the gifts that the people of Israel bring on clean plates to the Lord’s temple. {\cf2\super [487]}
A young woman doesn’t forget her jewelry.\par A bride doesn’t forget the sash for her dress.\par But my people have forgotten me\par too many times to count.\par
Remember, I will bring Israel\par from that country in the north.\par I will gather the people of Israel\par from the faraway places on earth.\par Some of the people will be blind and crippled.\par Some of the women will be pregnant\par and ready to give birth.\par But many, many people will come back.\par
Nebuchadnezzar will start a fire in the temples of the false gods of Egypt. He will burn those temples and he will take those idols away. A shepherd picks the bugs and stickers off of his clothes to make them clean. In the same way, Nebuchadnezzar will pick Egypt clean. Then he will safely leave Egypt.
“You must say to them, ‘The Lord my Master says: On my life, I promise, I don’t enjoy seeing people die—not even evil people! I don’t want them to die. I want those evil people to come back to me. I want them to change their lives so they can really live! So come back to me! Stop doing bad things! Why must you die, family of Israel?’
But, I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as my power fills the whole earth, I make you this promise!
\{When you plant\} you always say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes. Look at the \{people. They are like\} fields ready for harvesting now.
And I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This holy city is the new Jerusalem. {\cf2\super [157]} It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.
Outside the city are the dogs (bad people), people who do evil magic, people who sin sexually, people who murder, people who worship idols, {\cf2\super [175]} and people who love lies and tell lies.