Major Prophets · Chapter 27 of 66
Isaiah 27
In that day the Lord will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea. He sings over His vineyard, watering it every moment and guarding it night and day, inviting even briers to take hold of His strength and make peace with Him. Israel will blossom and fill the world with fruit. The chapter ends with a great trumpet gathering the scattered from Assyria and Egypt to worship at Jerusalem.
What happens in Isaiah 27
The chapter opens with the Lord wielding His great sword against leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent, and slaying the dragon in the sea, ancient symbols of chaos and evil. Then the tone softens into a vineyard song, the counterpart to Isaiah's earlier vineyard of judgment. Now the Lord says He keeps this vineyard, watering it every moment and guarding it night and day. He declares there is no fury in Him; He invites the briers instead to take hold of His strength and make peace.
In days to come Jacob will take root and fill the world with fruit. Isaiah reflects that God disciplined His people in measure, not as harshly as their enemies, and that their iniquity is purged when they cast down their idolatrous altars. Though the fortified city lies desolate, the chapter closes with a great trumpet blown, gathering those ready to perish in Assyria and outcasts in Egypt to worship the Lord at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 27 in context
Isaiah 27 completes the Apocalypse of Isaiah, chapters 24 through 27, turning from cosmic judgment to Israel's restoration. Leviathan and the sea dragon draw on ancient Near Eastern chaos imagery, here repurposed to declare God's victory over every hostile power.
The vineyard song deliberately echoes and reverses Isaiah 5, where the vineyard faced ruin. The closing gathering of exiles by trumpet anticipates the regathering of God's scattered people to worship at Zion.
Main themes of Isaiah 27
Isaiah 27 (KJV)
1In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. 2In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. 3I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 4Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. 5Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me. 6He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 7Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? 8In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 10Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. 11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour. 12And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 27
“Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.”Isaiah 27:5
“He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.”Isaiah 27:6
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”Isaiah 27:13
Thematic connection
How Isaiah 27 points to Jesus
God's invitation, let the briers take hold of My strength and make peace with Me, breathes the same reconciling heart the gospel proclaims, where enemies are made peace with God through Christ. Jesus took up the vineyard imagery, calling Himself the true vine and His people the branches who bear fruit only as they abide in Him, fulfilling Isaiah's hope that Israel would blossom and fill the world with fruit.
The promise that God will crush the serpent points toward Christ, who came to destroy the works of the devil and whom Revelation shows defeating the ancient dragon. The great trumpet gathering the perishing to worship at Zion echoes the trumpet that will gather Christ's elect. Because these are resonances rather than direct predictions, the link is a thematic connection fulfilled in Christ.
Questions about Isaiah 27
How does this vineyard differ from the vineyard of Isaiah 5?
In Isaiah 5 the vineyard yielded wild grapes and was left to ruin, a picture of Israel's judgment. Here the Lord Himself keeps the vineyard, watering it constantly and guarding it night and day so nothing harms it. The reversal shows God's ultimate intent is not destruction but flourishing. After discipline, He tends His people with unbroken care until they blossom and fill the world with fruit.
What does God's invitation to the briers to make peace reveal about Him?
God says He has no fury toward His people and, though He could burn opposing thorns, He instead invites them to take hold of His strength and make peace with Him. It reveals a God who prefers reconciliation to destruction, extending His own strength as the means of peace. Even to those set against Him, He opens a way to lay down hostility and be at peace, a mercy fulfilled in the gospel.
Reflection
Hear God's invitation to make peace with Him by taking hold of His strength rather than resisting as a brier. He keeps His vineyard tenderly, watering and guarding night and day. Rest in the truth that His discipline is measured and redemptive, meant to make you fruitful, not to destroy you.
A prayer from Isaiah 27
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