Isaiah 9

¹But the darkness shall not remain where now is distress; Of old he brought the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali into contempt; In future times shall he bring the land of the sea beyond Jordan, the circle of the gentiles, into honor.

²The people that walk in darkness behold a great light; They who dwell in the land of death-like shade, Upon them a light shineth.

³Thou enlargest the nation; Thou increasest their joy; They rejoice before thee with the joy of harvest, With the joy of those who divide the spoil.

⁴For thou breakest their heavy yoke, And the rod that smote their backs, And the scourge of the taskmaster, As in the day of Midian.

⁵For every greave of the warrior in battle, And the war-garment rolled in blood, Shall be burned; yea, it shall be food for the fire.

⁶For to us a child is born, To us a son is given, And the government shall be upon his shoulder, And he shall be called Wonderful, counsellor, mighty potentate, Everlasting father, prince of peace;

⁷His dominion shall be great, And peace without end shall be upon the throne of David and his kingdom, To fix and establish it Through justice and equity, Henceforth and forever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will do this.

⁸The Lord sendeth a word against Jacob; It cometh down to Israel.

⁹His whole people shall feel it, Ephraim, and the inhabitants of Samaria, Who say in pride and arrogance of heart,

¹⁰"The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."

¹¹Jehovah will raise up the enemies of Rezin against them, And will arm their adversaries;

¹²The Syrians before, the Philistines behind, Who shall devour Israel with wide jaws. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

¹³The people turn not to him that smiteth them; Neither do they seek Jehovah of hosts.

¹⁴Therefore shall Jehovah cut off from Israel the head and the tail, The palm-branch and the rush, in one day.

¹⁵[The aged and the honorable are the head, And the prophet that speaketh falsehood is the tail.]

¹⁶For the leaders of this people lead them astray, And they that are led by them go to destruction.

¹⁷Therefore shall the Lord have no joy in their young men, And on their orphans and widows he shall have no compassion; For they are all profane, and evil-doers; Every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸For wickedness burneth like a fire, It consumeth the briers and thorns, And it kindleth the thicket of the forest, So that it goeth up in columns of smoke.

¹⁹Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burned, And the people are food for the fire; No one spareth another.

²⁰They consume on the right hand, and yet are hungry; They devour on the left, and are not satisfied; Every one devoureth the flesh of his arm.

²¹Manasseh is against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh, And both together against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9

¹Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

²The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

³Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

⁴For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

⁵For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

⁸The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

⁹And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

¹⁰The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

¹¹Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;

¹²The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

¹³For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

¹⁵The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

¹⁶For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

¹⁹Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

²⁰And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

²¹Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.