5. Or else let them come to me for refuge;let them make peace with me,yes, let them make peace with me.’
6. In days to come Jacob will take root,Israel will bud and blossomand fill all the world with fruit.
7. Has the Lord struck heras he struck down those who struck her?Has she been killedas those were killed who killed her?
8. By warfare and exile you contend with her –with his fierce blast he drives her out,as on a day the east wind blows.
9. By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for,and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:when he makes all the altar stonesto be like limestone crushed to pieces,no Asherah poles or incense altarswill be left standing.
10. The fortified city stands desolate,an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness;there the calves graze,there they lie down;they strip its branches bare.
11. When its twigs are dry, they are broken offand women come and make fires with them.For this is a people without understanding;so their Maker has no compassion on them,and their Creator shows them no favour.