Isaiah — Chapter 27

In that day GOD will punishWith a great, cruel, mighty swordLeviathan the ElusiveaElusive Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Serpent—Leviathan the TwistingbTwisting Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Serpent;The Dragon of the seacDragon of the sea The monster that GOD vanquished of old (cf. 51.9; Ps. 74.13–14) was the embodiment of chaos; here it stands for the forces of evil in the present world. will be slain.

In that day,They shall sing of it:dit Apparently the earth; cf. 26.21. “Vineyard of Delight.”eDelight So some mss. (cf. Amos 5.11); other mss. and the editions have “Wine.”

I GOD keep watch over it,I water it every moment;That no harm may befall it,fThat no harm may befall it Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “My eye is open upon it.” I watch it night and day.

There is no anger in Me:If it offers Me thorns and thistles,gIf it offers Me thorns and thistles I.e., if the people through their misconduct fail to tend the vineyard. I will march to battle against it,And set it all on fire.hIf it offers … on fire Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

But if it holds fast to My refuge,It makes peace with Me;It makes peace with Me.iIt makes peace with Me; / It makes peace with Me Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

[In days] to come Jacob shall strike root,Israel shall sprout and blossom,And the face of the worldShall be covered with fruit.

Was he beaten as his beater has been?Did he suffer such slaughter as his slayers?

Assailing themjAssailing them Lit. “Striving with her”; meaning of verse uncertain. with fury unchained,His pitiless blast bore them offOn a day of gale.

kThis verse would read well before v. 6; the thought of vv. 7–8, dealing with the punishment of Israel’s enemies, is continued in vv. 10–11. Assuredly, by this aloneShall Jacob’s sin be purged away;This is the only priceFor removing his guilt:That he make all the altar-stonesLike shattered blocks of chalk—With no sacred postlsacred post See note at 17.8. left standing,Nor any incense altar.

Thus fortified cities lie desolate,Homesteads deserted, forsaken like a wilderness;There calves graze, there they lie downAnd consume its boughs.

When its crown is withered, they break;mAnd consume its boughs. / When its crown is withered, they break Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Or like a terebinth whose boughs / Break when its crown is withered.” Women come and make fires with them.For they are a people without understanding;That is whyTheir Maker will show them no mercy,Their Creator will deny them grace.

And in that day, GOD will beat out [the peoples like grain] from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt; and you shall be picked up one by one, O children of Israel!

And in that day, a great ram’s horn shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship GOD on the holy mount, in Jerusalem.