Here again we have a better version of this verse in the Book of Mormon. Notice that it says, "And there shall be a tenth" instead of "in it there shall be a tenth." "And they shall return," instead of "it shall return." This is referring to the Jews, only a tenth of which shall return and build up the land of Judah. The Lord compares the returning tenth to a certain kind of a tree that was an evergreen which could be eaten back by the goats and still send up shoots from the old stump. He also compares this tenth to an oak which has the strength in it to survive. The returning Jews will survive, even in the utmost adversity.