Isaiah 9:1–10:19
The Government of the Promised Son
9 Nevertheless athe gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at bfirst He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And cafterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 dThe people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And 1increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice ewhen they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of fMidian.
5 For every warrior’s 2sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
gWill be used for burning and fuel 3of fire.
6 hFor unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a iSon is given;
And jthe government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
kWonderful, Counselor, lMighty God,
Everlasting Father, mPrince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
nThere will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The ozeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
8 The Lord sent a word against pJacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is 4stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush qin one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For rthe leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord swill have no joy in their young men,
Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
And every mouth speaks 5folly.
tFor all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness uburns as the fire;
It shall devour the briers and thorns,
And kindle in the thickets of the forest;
They shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
vThe land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
wNo man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall 6snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
xAnd not be satisfied;
yEvery man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be zagainst Judah.
aFor all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
10 “Woe to those who adecree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
2 To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 bWhat will you do in cthe day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from dafar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
4 Without Me they shall bow down among the eprisoners,
And they shall fall 1among the slain.”
fFor all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
5 “Woe to Assyria, gthe rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against han ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will igive him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 jYet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
8 kFor he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not lCalno mlike Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria nlike Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,
Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has 2performed all His work oon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, p“I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
13 qFor he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;
Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,
And have robbed their treasuries;
So I have put down the inhabitants like a 3valiant man.
14 rMy hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,
And as one gathers eggs that are left,
I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing,
Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”
15 Shall sthe ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord, the 4Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.
17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
tIt will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.
18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of uhis fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.