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I carefully measured out
    Israel's punishment[a]
and sent the scorching heat
    to chase them far away.

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.

The Lord Will Bring His People Together

10 Fortress cities are left
like a desert
    where no one lives.
Cattle walk through the ruins,
    stripping the trees bare.

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Footnotes

  1. 27.8 I … punishment: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

By warfare[a] and exile(A) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind(B) blows.
By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned(C) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:(D)
When he makes all the altar stones(E)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles[b](F) or incense altars(G)
    will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,(H)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken(I) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,(J)
    there they lie down;(K)
    they strip its branches bare.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah