Isaiah 27:8

¹Hear the LORD’s word, you children of Israel, for the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

¹¹At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind blows from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse.

²⁴LORD, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.

¹²But it was plucked up in fury. It was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were broken off and withered. The fire consumed them.

⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials,

¹¹For I am with you, says the LORD, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”

¹“Come! Let’s return to the LORD; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds. ²After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.

¹⁷“Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the LORD your God, ^[+] when he led you by the way? ¹⁸Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?¹⁹“^[+] Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, GOD ^[+] of Armies. ²⁰“For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute. ²¹Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me? ²²For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord GOD. ²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways, ²⁴a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her. ²⁵“Keep your feet from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’ ²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so the house of Israel is ashamed— they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, ²⁷who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face, but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’ ²⁸“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble, for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah. ²⁹“Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says the LORD. ³⁰“I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. ³¹Generation, consider the LORD’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more’? ³²“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number. ³³How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways. ³⁴Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You didn’t find them breaking in, but it is because of all these things. ³⁵“Yet you said, ‘I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.’ “Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ ³⁶Why do you go about so much to change your ways? You will be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria. ³⁷You will also leave that place with your hands on your head; for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you won’t prosper with them.

¹⁵Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.

²⁷For the LORD says, “The whole land will be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.