3 For look, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they will take possession of it.’ ”
4 Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5 “For thus says Yahweh: ‘We have heard a sound of trembling, terror, and there is no peace.
6 Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child. Why do I see every strong man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? And why are all their faces changed to paleness?
7 Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it. And it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet from it he will be delivered.
8 And it will happen on that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will break his yoke from your neck and your bonds I will tear to pieces. And strangers will no longer let him work as a slave.
9 But they will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.