Isaiah 27
1 At that time the Lord will take his sharp, large, and strong sword, and punish Leviathan, the slithering serpent, and Leviathan, the coiled serpent, and he will kill the sea dragon.
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
2 At that time, sing about a beautiful vineyard.
In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard.
3 I, the Lord, take care of it, watering it often. I guard it night and day so that nobody can damage it.
I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it;
4 I'm not angry anymore. If there are thorns and brambles I would go and fight them, burning them all up,
I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.
5 Otherwise they should come to me for protection. They should make their peace with me, yes, make their peace with me.
Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me— yes, let them make peace with Me.”
6 In the future the descendants of Jacob will be like a tree taking root. Israel will flower and send out shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit!
In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Has the Lord hit Israel as he hit those that attacked them? Were they killed like their killers were killed?
Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her?
8 You dealt with them by sending them into exile, by banishing them. He drove them away with his powerful force, like when the east wind blows.
By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
9 Through this experience Jacob's guilt will be forgiven. The removal of their sins will come to fruition when they take all the pagan altar stones and crush them to pieces like chalk—no Asherah poles or altars of incense will be left standing.
Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
10 The fortified city will be abandoned, its houses as empty and lonely as a desert. Cattle will graze and rest there, stripping bare the branches of its trees.
For the fortified city lies deserted— a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
11 Their dry branches are broken off and used by women to make fires. This is a people that doesn't have any sense, so their Maker won't feel sorry for them, and their Creator won't help them.
When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
12 At that time the Lord will thresh the grain harvested from the Euphrates River to the Wadi of Egypt, and you Israelites will be gathered up one by one.
In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
13 At that time a loud trumpet will sound, and those who were dying in Assyria will return along with those exiled in Egypt. They will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
