Daily Bread

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

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

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