Isaiah 27:2-13

God will take care of his people

2 At that time, sing a song about a beautiful vineyard!

3 I, the Lord, keep it safe. I will continue to put water on it. I will guard it night and day, so that nobody can hurt it.

4 I am not angry now. If there were thorn bushes or weeds in my vineyard, I would attack them. I would burn them all. 5 But my enemies should turn to me for help. They should agree to live in peace with me. Yes, that is what they should do.

6 The time will come when Jacob will grow well, like a strong plant in the ground. Yes, Israel will make flowers and branches. Their fruit will fill all the world.

7 The Lord did not punish Israel's people as much as he punished their enemies. He did not kill them as much as he killed their enemies. 8 But Lord you sent your people to a land far away. That is how you punished them. You blew them away with a storm that came from the east. 9 In that way the Lord punished Jacob's descendants for their sins. They are no longer guilty. This will be the result when God has taken away Jacob's sin completely: All the stones in their altars will become small pieces of chalk. There will be no Asherah pole or altars for incense that continue to stand.

10 The strong city will become empty. Nobody will live there any more. It will be like an empty desert. Young cows will eat the grass there, and they will lie down there. They will eat all the leaves on the branches of the tree. 11 When the branches become dry, they break off the tree. Women will take the sticks and they will make fires with them. That is what these people are like. They do not understand anything. So their Maker will not help them or be kind to them.

12 At that time, the Lord will shake the tree! He will do that to his people everywhere from the River Euphrates to the Stream of Egypt. Then he will bring together all of you, one by one, you Israelite people.

27:12The River Euphrates and the Stream of Egypt were the borders of Israel in the north and in the south.

13 At that time, they will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. Then people who were dying in exile in Assyria will come. People who went away into Egypt will also come. They will worship the Lord on his holy hill in Jerusalem.

27:13‘his holy hill’ is Mount Zion.