1Til den tid vil Herren gribe sit skarpe sværd og straffe Livjatan, den lynhurtige slange, der vrider og snor sig, ja, han vil tilintetgøre dragen i havet. 2Da skal I tænke på Israel som en dejlig vinmark. 3Jeg, Herren, passer på den, vander den hver eneste dag, vogter den dag og nat, så ingen kan skade den. 4Min vrede mod Israel er ovre. Bliver den angrebet af tjørn og tidsler, går jeg i krig mod dem og brænder dem op. 5Jeg skåner kun dem, som overgiver sig og slutter fred med mig. 6Engang vil Israel slå rod og blomstre og fylde verden med frugt.
7Har Herren straffet Israel på samme måde, som han straffede deres fjender? 8Nej, fjenderne tilintetgjorde han, men Israel sendte han i eksil langt borte. De blev fejet bort fra deres land ved hans vældige åndepust, som var det en ørkenstorm. 9Israels straf vil være afsonet og deres synd slettet ud, når de har knust afgudsaltrenes sten og nedbrudt Asherapælene og røgelsesaltrene. 10Den befæstede by ligger forladt, dens huse er tomme, den ligner en ødemark. Kalve går og græsser dér. De lægger sig og tygger drøv på træernes blade. 11Folket blev som de tørre grene, kvinderne brækker af træerne for at bruge dem til brændsel. Det var et folk uden forståelse. Derfor viste deres skaber dem ingen barmhjertighed.
12Men engang i fremtiden vil Herren samle dem sammen igen lige fra Eufratfloden og til Egyptens bæk og bringe dem tilbage.27,12 Oversat ud fra LXX. Den hebraiske tekst er uklar. 13Til den tid vil signalet lyde fra det store vædderhorn, og da vil Herren kalde sit folk tilbage fra eksilet i Assyrien og Egypten. De skal vende hjem til Jerusalem og tilbede ham på hans hellige bjerg.
Deliverance of Israel
1In that day,
the Lord will punish with his sword –
his fierce, great and powerful sword –
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.
2In that day –
‘Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no-one may harm it.
4I 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.
5Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.’
6In days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will bud and blossom
and fill all the world with fruit.
7Has the Lord struck her
as he struck down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
as those were killed who killed her?
8By warfare27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. and exile you contend with her –
with his fierce blast he drives her out,
as on a day the east wind blows.
9By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
when he makes all the altar stones
to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah or incense altars
will be left standing.
10The fortified city stands desolate,
an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,
there they lie down;
they strip its branches bare.
11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off
and women come and make fires with them.
For this is a people without understanding;
so their Maker has no compassion on them,
and their Creator shows them no favour.
12In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. 13And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
