27 At that time, the Lord will punish Leviathan. The Lord will use his great and powerful sword to destroy that monster. Leviathan is a snake that moves very fast in the sea and it turns in every direction. But the Lord will kill it.
2 At that time, sing a song about a beautiful vineyard!
3 I, the Lord , keep it safe. I will continue to put water on it. I will guard it night and day, so that nobody can hurt it.
4 I am not angry now. If there were thorn bushes or weeds in my vineyard, I would attack them. I would burn them all. 5 But my enemies should turn to me for help. They should agree to live in peace with me. Yes, that is what they should do.
6 The time will come when Jacob will grow well, like a strong plant in the ground. Yes, Israel will make flowers and branches. Their fruit will fill all the world.
7 The Lord did not punish Israel's people as much as he punished their enemies. He did not kill them as much as he killed their enemies. 8 But Lord you sent your people to a land far away. That is how you punished them. You blew them away with a storm that came from the east. 9 In that way the Lord punished Jacob's descendants for their sins. They are no longer guilty. This will be the result when God has taken away Jacob's sin completely: All the stones in their altars will become small pieces of chalk. There will be no Asherah pole or altars for incense that continue to stand.
10 The strong city will become empty. Nobody will live there any more. It will be like an empty desert. Young cows will eat the grass there, and they will lie down there. They will eat all the leaves on the branches of the tree. 11 When the branches become dry, they break off the tree. Women will take the sticks and they will make fires with them. That is what these people are like. They do not understand anything. So their Maker will not help them or be kind to them.
12 At that time, the Lord will shake the tree! He will do that to his people everywhere from the River Euphrates to the Stream of Egypt. [ a ] Then he will bring together all of you, one by one, you Israelite people.
13 At that time, they will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. Then people who were dying in exile in Assyria will come. People who went away into Egypt will also come. They will worship the Lord on his holy hill in Jerusalem. [ b ]
27 At that time the Lord will judge Leviathan, [ a ]
the crooked snake.
He will use his great sword, his hard and powerful sword,
to punish Leviathan, that twisting, turning snake.
He will kill the monster of the sea. [ b ]
2 At that time people will sing
about the pleasant vineyard.
3 “I, the Lord , will care for the vineyard.
I will water it at the right time.
I will guard it day and night.
No one will hurt it.
4 I am not angry.
But if there is war and someone builds a wall of thornbushes, [ c ]
then I will march to it and burn it.
5 But if anyone comes to me for safety
and wants to make peace with me,
then let them come and make peace.
6 In the future, Jacob will take root firmly on his soil.
Then Israel will sprout and bloom,
and the world will be filled with his fruit.”
7 Israel was not hurt as badly as the enemy who tried to hurt it. Not as many of its people were killed as those who tried to kill them.
8 The Lord will settle his argument with Israel by sending the people far away. He will speak harshly to Israel. His words will burn like the hot desert wind.
9 How will Jacob’s guilt be forgiven? What will happen so his sins can be taken away? The rocks of the altar will be crushed to dust; the statues [ d ] and altars for worshiping false gods will all be destroyed.
10 The great city will be empty; it will be like a desert. All the people will be gone—they will run away. The city will be like an open pasture. Young cattle will eat grass there. The cattle will eat leaves from the branches of the vines. 11 The vines will become dry, and the branches will break off. Women will use them for firewood.
The people refuse to understand. So God, their Maker, will not comfort them or be kind to them.
12 At that time the Lord will begin separating his people from others. He will begin at the Euphrates River and will gather his people from there [ e ] to the River of Egypt. [ f ]
You people of Israel will be gathered together one by one. 13 Many of my people are now lost in Assyria. Some of my people have run away to Egypt. But at that time a great trumpet will be blown, and all those people will come back to Jerusalem. They will bow down before the Lord on that holy mountain.
27 In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
3 I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the 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 are slain by him?
8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
27 On that day ( A ) the Lord will punish [ a ] ( B ) Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even [ b ] Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And ( C ) He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
2 On that day,
“A [ c ] ( D ) vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
3 I, the Lord , am its keeper;
( E ) I water it every moment.
So that no one will [ d ] damage it,
I ( F ) guard it night and day.
4 I have no wrath.
Should [ e ] someone give Me ( G ) briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, ( H ) I would burn them [ f ] completely.
5 Or let him [ g ] ( I ) rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him ( J ) make peace with Me.”
6 [ h ] In the days to come Jacob ( K ) will take root,
Israel will ( L ) blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the [ i ] whole world with ( M ) fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has ( N ) He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, [ j ] have they been slain?
8 You contended with them [ k ] by banishing them, by ( O ) driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the ( P ) east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be ( Q ) forgiven;
And this will be [ l ] the full price of the [ m ] ( R ) pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the ( S ) altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When [ n ] Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is ( T ) isolated,
A [ o ] homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
( U ) There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and [ p ] feed on its branches.
11 When its ( V ) limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of ( W ) discernment,
Therefore ( X ) their Maker ( Y ) will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12 On that day the Lord ( Z ) will thresh from the flowing stream of the ( AA ) Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be ( AB ) gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also on that day that a great ( AC ) trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of ( AD ) Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and ( AE ) worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
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.
2 In that day ( F ) —
“Sing ( G ) about a fruitful vineyard: ( H )
3 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.
4 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 )
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge; ( M )
let them make peace ( N ) with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.”
6 In days to come Jacob will take root, ( O )
Israel will bud and blossom ( P )
and fill all the world with fruit. ( Q )
7 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?
8 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.
9 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.
