On that day, Leviathan,
the sea monster,
will squirm and try to escape,
but the Lord will kill him
with a cruel, sharp sword.
The Lord said:
2 At that time you must sing
about a fruitful vineyard.
3 I, the Lord, will protect it
and always keep it watered.
I will guard it day and night
to keep it from harm.
4 I am no longer angry.
But if it produces thorns,
I will go to war against it
and burn it to the ground.
5 Yet if the vineyard depends
on me for protection,
it will become my friend
and be at peace with me.
6 Someday Israel will take root
like a vine.
It will blossom and bear fruit
that covers the earth.
7 I, the Lord, didn’t punish and kill
the people of Israel
as fiercely as I punished
and killed their enemies.
8 I carefully measured out
Israel’s punishment
and sent the scorching heat
to chase them far away.
9 There’s only one way
that Israel’s sin and guilt
can be completely forgiven:
They must crush the stones
of every pagan altar
and place of worship.
10 Fortress cities are left
like a desert
where no one lives.
Cattle walk through the ruins,
stripping the
trees bare.
11 When broken branches
fall to the ground,
women pick them up
to feed the fire.
But these people are so stupid
that the God who created them
will show them
no mercy.
12 The time is coming when the Lord will shake the land between
the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he
will bring all of his people together. 13 A loud trumpet will
be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria
and Egypt will return to worship the Lord on his holy mountain
in Jerusalem.
The Contemporary English Version, c1995 by the American Bible
Society.
Selected texts provided for use with the Hypertext Bible Commentary