Isaiah 9

Chapter 9

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

¹¹But there will be no more ^agloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He ^btreated the ^cland of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the ²Gentiles.

^21aThe people who walk in darkness

Will see a great light;

Those who live in a dark land,

The light will shine on them.

^3aYou shall multiply the nation,

You ^bshall ¹increase ²their gladness;

They will be glad in Your presence

As with the gladness ³of harvest,

As ^4cmen rejoice when they divide the spoil.

⁴For ^aYou shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,

The rod of their ^boppressor, as ¹at the battle of ^cMidian.

⁵For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,

And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

⁶For a ^achild will be born to us, a ^bson will be given to us;

And the ^cgovernment will ¹rest ^don His shoulders;

And His name will be called ^eWonderful Counselor, ^fMighty God,

Eternal ^gFather, Prince of ^hPeace.

⁷There will be ^ano end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the ^bthrone of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with ^cjustice and righteousness

From then on and forevermore.

^dThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

⁸The Lord sends a ¹message against Jacob,

And it falls on Israel.

⁹And all the people know it,

That is, ^aEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

Asserting in pride and in ^barrogance of heart:

¹⁰“The bricks have fallen down,

But we will ^arebuild with smooth stones;

The sycamores have been cut down,

But we will replace them with cedars.”

¹¹Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from ^aRezin

And spurs their enemies on,

¹²The Arameans on the east and the ^aPhilistines on the west;

And they ^bdevour Israel with ¹gaping jaws.

^cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.

¹³Yet the people ^ado not turn back to Him who struck them,

Nor do they ^bseek the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴So the Lord cuts off ^ahead and tail from Israel,

Both palm branch and bulrush ^bin a single day.

¹⁵The head is ^athe elder and honorable man,

And the prophet who teaches ^bfalsehood is the tail.

^16aFor those who guide this people are leading them astray;

And those who are guided by them are ¹brought to confusion.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord does ^anot take pleasure in their young men,

^bNor does He have pity on their ¹orphans or their widows;

For every one of them is ^cgodless and an ^devildoer,

And every ^emouth is speaking foolishness.

^fIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.

^18aFor wickedness burns like a fire;

It consumes briars and thorns;

It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame

And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

¹⁹By the ^afury of the Lord of hosts the ^bland is burned up,

And the ^cpeople are like fuel for the fire;

No ^dman spares his brother.

²⁰¹They slice off what is on the right hand but still are ^ahungry,

And ²they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;

Each of them eats the ^bflesh of his own arm.

²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,

^aAnd together they are against Judah.

^bIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.