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27 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord will punish Leviathan [C a sea creature in ancient Near Eastern texts that represents chaos; Job 3:8; 41:1, 12; Ps. 74:14; 104:26], the ·gliding [or swift-moving; or fleeing] ·snake [serpent].
    He will punish Leviathan, the ·coiled [writhing; twisting] ·snake [serpent],
    with his great and hard and powerful sword.
He will kill the ·monster [dragon] in the sea.
·At that time [L In that day]
    sing about the ·pleasant [beautiful; or fruitful] vineyard [C God’s people; 5:1–7].
“I, the Lord, will ·care for [watch over] that vineyard;
    I will water it ·at the right time [regularly; continually].
No one will hurt it,
    because I will guard it day and night.
I am not ·angry [wrathful].
If ·anyone builds a wall of thornbushes in war [or only there were briers and thorns against me!],
    I will march ·to it [against it in battle] and burn it.
But if anyone comes to me for ·safety [refuge; protection]
    and wants to make peace with me,
    ·he should come and [let him] make peace with me.”
In the days to come, ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob] will ·be like a plant with good roots [take root];
    Israel will ·grow like a plant beginning to bloom [L blossom and bud].
·Then the world will be filled with their children [L …and fill all the world with fruit].

The Lord Will Send Israel Away

·The Lord has not hurt [L Has the Lord struck down…?] his people as he ·hurt their enemies [L struck down those who struck them];
    ·his people have not [L have they…?] been killed like those who tried to kill them.
He will ·settle his argument with Israel [or oppose her; contend with her] by sending her far away.
    ·Like a hot desert wind [L With his fierce breath in the day of the east wind; C the east wind came from the desert], he will drive her away.
This is how ·Israel’s [L Jacob’s] guilt will be forgiven;
    this is how its sins will be taken away:
·Israel [L He] will crush the rocks of the altar [C pagan altars] to dust,
    and no ·Asherah idols [L Asherahs; C sacred trees or poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah] or ·altars [incense altars] will be left standing.
10 ·At that time [L In that day] the ·strong, walled [fortified] city will be ·empty [desolate]
    an abandoned settlement, empty like a ·desert [wilderness; 17:9; 32:14, 19].
Calves will eat grass there.
    They will lie down there
    and ·eat leaves from [strip bare] the branches.
11 The limbs will become dry and break off,
    so women will use them for firewood.
The people ·refuse to understand [lack understanding/discernment],
    so ·their Creator [the one who made them] will not comfort them;
·their Maker [the one who formed them] will not ·be kind [show favor] to them.

12 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord will begin gathering ·his people [L you, sons/children of Israel] one by one from the ·Euphrates River [L flowing River] to the brook of Egypt. He will ·separate them from others as grain is separated from chaff [thresh/L beat them out]. 13 ·At that time [In that day] a great trumpet will be blown. Then those who are ·lost [or perishing] in Assyria and those who ·have run away [were exiled/driven out] to Egypt will come and worship the Lord on that holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Deliverance of Israel

27 In that day,(A)

the Lord will punish with his sword(B)
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan(C) the gliding serpent,(D)
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster(E) of the sea.

In that day(F)

“Sing(G) about a fruitful vineyard:(H)
    I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water(I) it continually.
I guard(J) it day and night
    so that no one may harm(K) it.
    I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
    I would march against them in battle;
    I would set them all on fire.(L)
Or else let them come to me for refuge;(M)
    let them make peace(N) with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

In days to come Jacob will take root,(O)
    Israel will bud and blossom(P)
    and fill all the world with fruit.(Q)

Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck(R) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
By warfare[a] and exile(S) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind(T) blows.
By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned(U) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:(V)
When he makes all the altar stones(W)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles[b](X) or incense altars(Y)
    will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,(Z)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken(AA) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,(AB)
    there they lie down;(AC)
    they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off(AD)
    and women come and make fires(AE) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;(AF)
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator(AG) shows them no favor.(AH)

12 In that day the Lord will thresh(AI) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,(AJ) and you, Israel, will be gathered(AK) up one by one. 13 And in that day(AL) a great trumpet(AM) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled(AN) in Egypt(AO) will come and worship(AP) the Lord on the holy mountain(AQ) in Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah