Isaiah 27
1 In that day the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the slant serpent, and leviathan the tortuous serpent; and He will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
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.
2 In that day sing ye of her: 'A vineyard of foaming wine!'
At that time, sing about a beautiful vineyard.
3 I the LORD do guard it, I water it every moment; lest Mine anger visit it, I guard it night and day.
I, the Lord, take care of it, watering it often. I guard it night and day so that nobody can damage it.
4 Fury is not in Me; would that I were as the briers and thorns in flame! I would with one step burn it altogether.
I'm not angry anymore. If there are thorns and brambles I would go and fight them, burning them all up,
5 Or else let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; yea, let him make peace with Me.
Otherwise they should come to me for protection. They should make their peace with me, yes, make their peace with me.
6 In days to come shall Jacob take root, Israel shall blossom and bud; and the face of the world shall be filled with fruitage.
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!
7 Hath He smitten him as He smote those that smote him? Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that were slain by Him?
Has the Lord hit Israel as he hit those that attacked them? Were they killed like their killers were killed?
8 In full measure, when Thou sendest her away, Thou dost contend with her; He hath removed her with His rough blast in the day of the east wind.
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.
9 Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be expiated, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
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.
10 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation abandoned and forsaken, like the wilderness; there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
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.
11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore He that made them will not have compassion upon them, and He that formed them will not be gracious unto them.
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.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD will beat off His fruit from the flood of the River unto the Brook of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
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.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
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.
