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但那受過痛苦的必不再見幽暗。

未來的君王

從前上帝使西布倫地和拿弗他利地被藐視，末後卻使這沿海的路，約旦河東，外邦人居住的加利利地得榮耀。
²在黑暗中行走的百姓看見了大光；
住在死蔭之地的人有光照耀他們。
³你使這國民眾多⚓，
使他們喜樂大增；
他們在你面前歡喜，
好像收割時的歡喜，
又像人分戰利品那樣的快樂。
⁴因為他們所負的重軛
和肩頭上的杖，
並欺壓者的棍，
你都已經折斷，
如同在米甸的日子一般。
⁵戰士在戰亂中所穿的靴子，
以及那滾在血中的衣服，
都必當作柴火燃燒。
⁶因有一嬰孩為我們而生；
有一子賜給我們。
政權必擔在他的肩頭上；
他名稱為「奇妙策士、全能的上帝、永在的父、和平的君」。
⁷他的政權與平安必加增無窮。
他必在大衛的寶座上治理他的國，
以公平公義使國堅定穩固，
從今直到永遠。
萬軍之耶和華的熱心必成就這事。

耶和華要懲罰以色列

⁸主向雅各家發出言語，
主的話臨到以色列家。
⁹眾百姓，就是以法蓮和撒瑪利亞的居民，
都將知道；
他們憑驕傲自大的心說：
¹⁰「磚塊掉落了，我們要鑿石頭重建；
桑樹砍了，我們要改種香柏樹。」
¹¹因此，耶和華興起利汛的敵人⚓前來攻擊以色列，
要激起它的仇敵，
¹²東有亞蘭人，西有非利士人；
他們張口吞吃以色列。
雖然如此，耶和華的怒氣並未轉消；
他的手依然伸出。

¹³這百姓還沒有歸向擊打他們的主，
也沒有尋求萬軍之耶和華。
¹⁴耶和華在一日之間
從以色列中剪除了頭與尾－
棕樹枝與蘆葦－
¹⁵長老和顯要就是頭，
以謊言教人的先知就是尾。
¹⁶因為引導這百姓的使他們走入迷途，
被引導的都必被吞滅。
¹⁷所以，主不喜愛⚓他們的青年，
也不憐憫他們的孤兒和寡婦；
因為他們都是褻瀆的，行惡的，
並且各人的口都說愚妄的話。
雖然如此，耶和華的怒氣並未轉消；
他的手依然伸出。

¹⁸邪惡如火焚燒，
吞滅荊棘和蒺藜，
在稠密的樹林中點燃，
成為煙柱，旋轉上騰。
¹⁹因萬軍之耶和華的烈怒，地都燒遍了；
百姓成為柴火，
無人憐惜弟兄。
²⁰有人右邊搶奪，猶受飢餓；
左邊吞吃，仍不飽足，
各人吃自己膀臂上的肉。
²¹瑪拿西吞吃以法蓮，
以法蓮吞吃瑪拿西，
他們又一同攻擊猶大。
雖然如此，耶和華的怒氣並未轉消；
他的手依然伸出。