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Israel Will Blossom Again

In days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and bud
    and fill the face of the world with fruit.
Did He strike Israel
    as He struck those who struck them?
Or were they slain
    as their slayers were slain?
You contended with her by banishing her,
    by driving her away.
With His fierce wind He expelled them
    on the day of the east wind.
So by this will Jacob’s sin be atoned
and this the full price to remove his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones
    like shattered chalk stones,
so that the Asherah poles and incense
    rise no more.
10 The fortified city is a lonely habitation,
forlorn and forsaken like the desert.
There the calf will graze,
there lie down
and consume its branches.
11 When the boughs are withered,
they will be broken off.
Women come and set them on fire,
for it is a people of no understanding.
Therefore their Maker will show them no mercy—
    He who formed them will give them no grace.

12 It will come about in that day,
Adonai will thresh from the channel of the River to the Wadi of Egypt,
and you will be gathered one by one, Bnei-Yisrael.

13 It will also come about in that day, a great shofar will be blown.[a] Those perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come and worship Adonai on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

A Cornerstone of Zion

28 Oy, the proud crown of Ephraim’s drunks!
Its glorious beauty is a fading flower,
which is at the head of the fertile valleys
    of those overcome with wine!
Behold, Adonai is strong and mighty,
like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest,
like a downpour of overflowing water,
He hurls it down to earth with His hand.
The proud crown of Ephraim’s drunks
will be trampled underfoot.
The glorious beauty is a fading flower
which is at the head of the fertile valley,
like a first-ripe fig before summer—
whoever sees it, swallows it up while it is still in his palm.

In that day Adonai-Tzva’ot
will be a crown of glory,
a diadem of beauty
to the remnant of His people,
a spirit of judgment for him
    who sits on the judgment seat,
and strength for those
    turning back the battle at the gate.
But these also reel from wine
and stagger from strong drink
—the kohen and the prophet reel from strong drink—
are confused because of wine,
they stagger because of strong drink,
they are muddled in vision,
they stumble in judgment.
Since all the tables are full of the filth of vomit,
no place is left.

To whom will He teach knowledge?
To whom will He explain the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 For it must be ‘precept upon precept,
precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.’
11 For through stammering lips and a foreign tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said,
    “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,
    here is repose”—but they would not listen.
13 So the word of Adonai is to them
‘precept on precept, precept on precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.’
So they walk, and fall backward,
and are broken, trapped, and captured.

22 Therefore, thus says Adonai, Redeemer of Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
no longer will his face grow pale;
23 for when he sees his children,
the work of My hands in his midst,
they will sanctify My Name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.

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