Daily Bread

the Lord will punish with his sword^(B)—
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan^(C) the gliding serpent,^(D)
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster^(E) of the sea.

“Sing^(G) about a fruitful vineyard:^(H)
3     I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water^(I) it continually.
I guard^(J) it day and night
    so that no one may harm^(K) it.
⁴     I 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.^(L)
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;^(M)
    let them make peace^(N) with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶ In days to come Jacob will take root,^(O)
    Israel will bud and blossom^(P)
    and fill all the world with fruit.^(Q)

⁷ Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck^(R) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
⁸ By warfare^[a] and exile^(S) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind^(T) blows.
⁹ By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned^(U) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:^(V)
When he makes all the altar stones^(W)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles^[b](X) or incense altars^(Y)
    will be left standing.
¹⁰ The fortified city stands desolate,^(Z)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken^(AA) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,^(AB)
    there they lie down;^(AC)
    they strip its branches bare.
¹¹ When its twigs are dry, they are broken off^(AD)
    and women come and make fires^(AE) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;^(AF)
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator^(AG) shows them no favor.^(AH)