Isaiah 27 – NIV & NIRV

New International Version

Isaiah 27:1-13

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 favor.

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.

New International Reader’s Version

Isaiah 27:1-13

Israel Will Be Saved

1At that time

the Lord will punish Leviathan with his sword.

His great, powerful and deadly sword will punish

the serpent that glides through the sea.

He will kill that twisting sea monster.

2At 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.

4I 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.

5So 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.”

6In 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.

7The 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.

8The 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.

9The 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.

10Cities 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.

11When 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.

12At 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 Euphrates River to the Wadi of Egypt. 13At 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.