1 In that day few men will be left alive. Seven women will fight over each of them and say, "Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us be called by your name so we won't be mocked as old maids."
2 But in the future, Israel--the branch of the LORD--will be lush and beautiful, and the fruit of the land will be the pride of its people.
3 All those whose names are written down, who have survived the destruction of Jerusalem, will be a holy people.
4 The Lord will wash the moral filth from the women of Jerusalem.* He will cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains by a spirit of judgment that burns like fire.1
5 Then the LORD will provide shade for Jerusalem* and all who assemble there. There will be a canopy of smoke and cloud throughout the day and clouds of fire at night, covering the glorious land.2
6 It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.
Read Isaiah 5
