Isaiah 55:1–13
55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,i
come to the waters;j
and you who have no money,
come, buyk and eat!
Come, buy wine and milkl
without money and without cost.m
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?n
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,o
and you will delight in the richestp of fare.
I will make an everlasting covenants with you,
my faithful lovet promised to David.u
4 See, I have made him a witnessv to the peoples,
a ruler and commanderw of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nationsx you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,y
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy Onez of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”a
6 Seekb the Lord while he may be found;c
calld on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsakee their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.f
Let them turng to the Lord, and he will have mercyh on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.i
8 “For my thoughtsj are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”k
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,l
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.m
10 As the rainn and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,o
so that it yields seedp for the sower and bread for the eater,q
11 so is my wordr that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,s
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purposet for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joyu
and be led forth in peace;v
the mountains and hills
will burst into songw before you,
and all the treesx of the field
will clap their hands.y
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briersz the myrtlea will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,b
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Isaiah 9:1–55:13
9 a Nevertheless, there will be no more gloomw for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,x but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darknessy
have seen a great light;z
on those living in the land of deep darknessa
a light has dawned.b
3 You have enlarged the nationc
and increased their joy;d
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.e
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,f
you have shatteredg
the yokeh that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,i
the rod of their oppressor.j
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,k
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,l
to us a son is given,m
and the governmentn will be on his shoulders.o
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,p Mighty God,q
Everlastingr Father,s Prince of Peace.t
7 Of the greatness of his governmentu and peacev
there will be no end.w
He will reignx on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justicey and righteousnessz
from that time on and forever.a
The zealb of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
8 The Lord has sent a messagec against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it—
Ephraimd and the inhabitants of Samariae—
who say with pride
and arrogancef of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;g
the figh trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.i”
11 But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’sj foes against them
and has spurred their enemies on.
12 Arameansk from the east and Philistinesl from the west
have devouredm Israel with open mouth.
Yet for all this, his angern is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.o
13 But the people have not returnedp to him who struckq them,
nor have they soughtr the Lord Almighty.
14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reeds in a single day;t
15 the eldersu and dignitariesv are the head,
the prophetsw who teach liesx are the tail.
16 Those who guidey this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.z
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,a
nor will he pityb the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodlyc and wicked,d
every mouth speaks folly.e
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.f
18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;g
it consumes briers and thorns,h
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,i
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrathj of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorchedk
and the people will be fuel for the fire;l
they will not spare one another.m
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;n
on the left they will eat,o
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspringb:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;p
together they will turn against Judah.q
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.r
10 Woes to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,t
2 to depriveu the poor of their rights
and withhold justice
Isaiah 9
9 a Nevertheless, there will be no more gloomw for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,x but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darknessy
have seen a great light;z
on those living in the land of deep darknessa
a light has dawned.b
3 You have enlarged the nationc
and increased their joy;d
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.e
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,f
you have shatteredg
the yokeh that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,i
the rod of their oppressor.j
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,k
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,l
to us a son is given,m
and the governmentn will be on his shoulders.o
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,p Mighty God,q
Everlastingr Father,s Prince of Peace.t
7 Of the greatness of his governmentu and peacev
there will be no end.w
He will reignx on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justicey and righteousnessz
from that time on and forever.a
The zealb of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
8 The Lord has sent a messagec against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it—
Ephraimd and the inhabitants of Samariae—
who say with pride
and arrogancef of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;g
the figh trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.i”
11 But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’sj foes against them
and has spurred their enemies on.
12 Arameansk from the east and Philistinesl from the west
have devouredm Israel with open mouth.
Yet for all this, his angern is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.o
13 But the people have not returnedp to him who struckq them,
nor have they soughtr the Lord Almighty.
14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reeds in a single day;t
15 the eldersu and dignitariesv are the head,
the prophetsw who teach liesx are the tail.
16 Those who guidey this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.z
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,a
nor will he pityb the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodlyc and wicked,d
every mouth speaks folly.e
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.f
18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;g
it consumes briers and thorns,h
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,i
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrathj of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorchedk
and the people will be fuel for the fire;l
they will not spare one another.m
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;n
on the left they will eat,o
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspringb:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;p
together they will turn against Judah.q
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.r