9

The Government of the Promised Son

¹Nevertheless ⚓the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at ⚓first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And ⚓afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
²⚓The 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.
³You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice ⚓when they divide the spoil.
⁴For You have 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 warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
⚓Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
⁶⚓For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a ⚓Son is given;
And ⚓the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
⚓Wonderful, Counselor, ⚓Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, ⚓Prince of Peace.
⁷Of the increase of His government and peace
⚓There 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 ⚓zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The Punishment of Samaria

⁸The Lord sent a word against ⚓Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
⁹All the people will know—
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.”
¹¹Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
¹²The 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 stretched out still.
¹³For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush ⚓in one day.
¹⁵The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
¹⁶For ⚓the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord ⚓will 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 folly.
⚓For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
¹⁸For wickedness ⚓burns 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.
¹⁹Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
⚓The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
⚓No man shall spare his brother.
²⁰And he shall snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
⚓And not be satisfied;
⚓Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
²¹Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be⚓against Judah.
⚓For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

9

The Darkness Turns to Light

¹Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
³You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
⁴For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
⁵Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
⁶For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

⁸The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
⁹All the people will know it—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
who say with pride
and arrogance of heart,
¹⁰“The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;
the fig trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
¹¹But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them
and has spurred their enemies on.
¹²Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
have devoured Israel with open mouth.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.

¹³But the people have not returned to him who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord Almighty.
¹⁴So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reed in a single day;
¹⁵the elders and dignitaries are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
¹⁶Those who guide this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,
nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly and wicked,
every mouth speaks folly.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.

¹⁸Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹By the wrath of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
they will not spare one another.
²⁰On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring⚓ :
²¹Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
together they will turn against Judah.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.