27:1 At that time¹ the LORD will punish
with his destructive,² great, and powerful sword
Leviathan the fast moving³ serpent,
Leviathan the squirming serpent;
he will kill the sea monster.⁴
27:2 When that time comes,⁵
sing about a delightful vineyard!⁶
27:3 I, the LORD, protect it,⁷
I water it regularly.⁸
I guard it night and day,
so no one can harm it.⁹
27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers,
then I would march against them¹⁰ for battle,
I would set them¹¹ all on fire,
27:5 unless they became my subjects,¹²
and made peace with me.¹³
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root,¹⁴
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce will fill the surface of the world.¹⁵
27:7 Has the LORD struck down Israel like he did their oppressors?¹⁶
Has Israel been killed like their enemies?¹⁷
27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her;¹⁸
he drives her away¹⁹ with his strong wind in the day of the east wind.²⁰
27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven,²¹
and this is how they will show they are finished sinning:²²
they will make all the stones of the altars²³
like crushed limestone,
and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.²⁴
27:10 For the fortified city²⁵ is left alone,
it is a deserted settlement,
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves²⁶ graze there,
they lie down there,
and eat its branches bare.²⁷
27:11 When its branches get brittle,²⁸ they break,
women come and use them for kindling.²⁹
For these people lack understanding,³⁰
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them,
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
27:12 At that time³¹
the LORD will shake the tree,³²
from the Euphrates River
to the Stream of Egypt.
Then you will be gathered up
one by one, O Israelites.³³
27:13 At that time³⁴
a large trumpet will be blown,
and the ones lost³⁵ in the land of Assyria will come,
as well as the refugees in³⁶ the land of Egypt.
They will worship the LORD
on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.