9But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame, but in the future those lands will be made great. They will stretch from the road along the Mediterranean Sea to the land beyond the Jordan River and north to Galilee, the land of people who are not Israelites.

²Before those people lived in darkness,

but now they have seen a great light.

They lived in a dark land,

but a light has shined on them.

³God, you have caused the nation to grow

and made the people happy.

And they have shown their happiness to you,

like the joy during harvest time,

like the joy of people

taking what they have won in war.

⁴Like the time you defeated Midian,

you have taken away their heavy load

and the heavy pole from their backs

and the rod the enemy used to punish them.

Read in Logos

Isaiah 9:2: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.