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.

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¹但那受过痛苦的必不再见幽暗。

未来的君王

从前上帝使西布伦地和拿弗他利地被藐视，末后却使这沿海的路，约旦河东，外邦人居住的加利利地得荣耀。
²在黑暗中行走的百姓看见了大光；
住在死荫之地的人有光照耀他们。
³你使这国民众多⚓，
使他们喜乐大增；
他们在你面前欢喜，
好像收割时的欢喜，
又像人分战利品那样的快乐。
⁴因为他们所负的重轭
和肩头上的杖，
并欺压者的棍，
你都已经折断，
如同在米甸的日子一般。
⁵战士在战乱中所穿的靴子，
以及那滚在血中的衣服，
都必当作柴火燃烧。
⁶因有一婴孩为我们而生；
有一子赐给我们。
政权必担在他的肩头上；
他名称为“奇妙策士、全能的上帝、永在的父、和平的君”。
⁷他的政权与平安必加增无穷。
他必在大卫的宝座上治理他的国，
以公平公义使国坚定稳固，
从今直到永远。
万军之耶和华的热心必成就这事。

耶和华要惩罚以色列

⁸主向雅各家发出言语，
主的话临到以色列家。
⁹众百姓，就是以法莲和撒玛利亚的居民，
都将知道；
他们凭骄傲自大的心说：
¹⁰“砖块掉落了，我们要凿石头重建；
桑树砍了，我们要改种香柏树。”
¹¹因此，耶和华兴起利汛的敌人⚓前来攻击以色列，
要激起它的仇敌，
¹²东有亚兰人，西有非利士人；
他们张口吞吃以色列。
虽然如此，耶和华的怒气并未转消；
他的手依然伸出。

¹³这百姓还没有归向击打他们的主，
也没有寻求万军之耶和华。
¹⁴耶和华在一日之间
从以色列中剪除了头与尾－
棕树枝与芦苇－
¹⁵长老和显要就是头，
以谎言教人的先知就是尾。
¹⁶因为引导这百姓的使他们走入迷途，
被引导的都必被吞灭。
¹⁷所以，主不喜爱⚓他们的青年，
也不怜悯他们的孤儿和寡妇；
因为他们都是亵渎的，行恶的，
并且各人的口都说愚妄的话。
虽然如此，耶和华的怒气并未转消；
他的手依然伸出。

¹⁸邪恶如火焚烧，
吞灭荆棘和蒺藜，
在稠密的树林中点燃，
成为烟柱，旋转上腾。
¹⁹因万军之耶和华的烈怒，地都烧遍了；
百姓成为柴火，
无人怜惜弟兄。
²⁰有人右边抢夺，犹受饥饿；
左边吞吃，仍不饱足，
各人吃自己膀臂上的肉。
²¹玛拿西吞吃以法莲，
以法莲吞吃玛拿西，
他们又一同攻击犹大。
虽然如此，耶和华的怒气并未转消；
他的手依然伸出。