Isaiah 9

1Yet the land in anguish will not be left in gloom. At first he brought low the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but afterward he will bring honor to the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

2The people walking in the dark have seen a great light. Those who lived in a land as dark as death now have light shining on them. 3You have made the nation grow and filled it with great joy. In your presence they are glad with the gladness of harvest time, the delight of those who share out the spoils of war. 4For you have smashed the yoke that weighed them down, the pole pressing on their shoulders, the rod of the man who drove them, as on the day of Midian. 5For every boot that stamped and thundered in battle, every cloak caked in blood, will go to be burned, food for the fire. 6For a child has been born for us, a son has been given to us, and the right to rule rests on his shoulders. He has been named Planner of Wonders, God the Mighty Warrior, Father for All Time, Ruler of Peace. 7His rule will grow and grow, and its peace will never end, on David’s throne and over his kingdom, as he makes it firm and holds it up with justice and righteousness from now on and for all time. The burning zeal of the LORD of Armies will make this happen.

8The Lord has sent out a word against Jacob, and it has come down on Israel. 9Every one of them will find it out, Ephraim and everyone living in Samaria, the people who boast with proud, swollen hearts, 10“Brick has tumbled down, but we will build in cut stone; sycamore wood has been chopped down, but cedar will take its place.” 11So the LORD has raised Rezin’s foes high against them and spurred on their enemies: 12Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west have gulped Israel down with greedy mouths. In spite of all this, his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out. 13And still the people have not come back to the one who struck them, nor gone looking for the LORD of Armies.

14So in one day the LORD lopped off Israel’s head and tail, the tall palm and the lowly rush. 15The head means the old men and the people of high standing; the tail means the prophet whose teaching is false. 16Those who steer this people lead them off course, and those they steer are swallowed up. 17That is why the Lord takes no delight in its young men and shows no mercy to its orphans and widows. Every one of them is godless and does evil, and every mouth speaks shameful folly. In spite of all this, his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out. 18Wickedness blazes up like a fire. It eats through thorn and brier, catches the tangled undergrowth of the forest, and sends it whirling skyward in towering smoke. 19The fury of the LORD of Armies has burned the land black, and the people have become like wood for the fire. No one spares even his own brother. 20They tear at food to their right and stay hungry; they gulp it down to their left and are never filled. Every one of them feeds on his own arm. 21Manasseh preys on Ephraim, Ephraim on Manasseh, and both join hands against Judah. In spite of all this, his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out.