Look around you and see what is happening: Your people are gathering to come home! Your sons will come from far away; Your daughters will be carried like children.

After Lot had left, the LORD said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions.

the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things,

and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds.

My people will come from far away, from the north and the west, and from Aswan in the south."

The Sovereign LORD says to his people: "I will signal to the nations, and they will bring your children home.

Do not be afraid---I am with you! "From the distant east and the farthest west I will bring your people home.

I will tell the north to let them go and the south not to hold them back. Let my people return from distant lands, from every part of the world.

Jerusalem, you have been like a childless woman, but now you can sing and shout for joy. Now you will have more children than a woman whose husband never left her.

You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.

You will see this and be filled with joy; You will tremble with excitement. The wealth of the nations will be brought to you; From across the sea their riches will come.

All the sheep of Kedar and Nebaioth Will be brought to you as sacrifices And offered on the altar to please the LORD. The LORD will make his Temple more glorious than ever.

They are ships coming from distant lands, Bringing God's people home. They bring with them silver and gold To honor the name of the LORD, The holy God of Israel, Who has made all nations honor his people.

Day and night your gates will be open, So that the kings of the nations May bring you their wealth.

The LORD says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. You will be like a child that is nursed by its mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love.

I will comfort you in Jerusalem, as a mother comforts her child.

They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers.

I will bring them from the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. The blind and the lame will come with them, pregnant women and those about to give birth. They will come back a great nation.

So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

"In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.

"I make a vow by my own name---the LORD is speaking---that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me,

When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow.

Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised.

To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise.

Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done. She is like a bride dressed for her wedding. God has clothed her with salvation and victory.

Grandparents are proud of their grandchildren, just as children are proud of their parents.

Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted.

And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.