Isaiah 27

New International Reader’s Version

1 At that time the LORD will punish Leviathan with his sword. His great, powerful and deadly sword will punish the snake that glides through the sea. He will kill that twisting sea monster.2 At that time the LORD will sing about his fruitful vineyard. He will say,3 ‘I am the LORD. I watch over my vineyard. I water it all the time. I guard it day and night. I do it so no one can harm it.4 I am not angry with my vineyard. I wish thorns and bushes would come up in it. Then I would march out against them in battle. I would set all of them on fire.5 So the enemies of my people should come to me for safety. They should make peace with me. I will say it again. They should make peace with me.’6 In days to come, Jacob’s people will put down roots like a vine. Israel will bud and bloom. They will fill the whole world with fruit.7 The LORD struck down those who struck down Israel. But he hasn’t punished Israel as much. The LORD killed those who killed many of his people. But he hasn’t punished his people as much.8 The LORD will use war to punish Israel. He will make them leave their land. With a strong blast of his anger he will drive them out. It will be as if the east wind were blowing.9 The people of Jacob will have to pay for their sin. Here is how they will show that their sin has been removed. They will make all the altar stones like limestone. They will crush them to pieces. No poles used to worship the female god named Asherah will be left standing. No incense altars will be left either.10 Cities that have high walls around them will become empty. They will be settlements with no one in them. They will be like a desert. Calves will eat and lie down in them. They will strip bare the branches of their trees.11 When their twigs are dry, they will be broken off. Then women will come and make fires with them. The people of Jacob don’t understand the LORD. So the God who made them won’t be concerned about them. Their Creator won’t be kind to them.12 At that time the LORD will separate Israel from other people. He will gather the Israelites together one by one. He will gather them from the River Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt.13 At that time a loud trumpet will be blown. Those who were dying in Assyria will come and worship the LORD. So will those who were taken away to Egypt. All of them will worship the LORD on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 27

English Standard Version

1 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. (Ps 74:14; Isa 51:9; Jer 47:6; Eze 29:3)2 In that day, “A pleasant vineyard,[1] sing of it! (Isa 5:7; Isa 26:1)3 I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day;4 I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together. (Isa 10:17)5 Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me.”6 In days to come[2] Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isa 37:31; Ho 14:5)7 Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain? (Isa 37:18; Isa 37:36; Ho 6:1)8 Measure by measure,[3] by exile you contended with them; he removed them with his fierce breath[4] in the day of the east wind. (Jer 10:24; Jer 18:17)9 Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[5] when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing. (De 16:21; 2Ki 18:4; Isa 22:14)10 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches. (Isa 17:9; Isa 32:14; Isa 32:19; Ho 8:14; Mic 5:11)11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor. (De 32:28; Isa 30:16)12 In that day from the river Euphrates[6] to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. (Ge 15:18)13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (Le 25:9; Isa 2:2; Isa 11:11; Isa 11:16; Mic 7:12; Mt 24:31; Re 11:15)