For to Us a Child Is Born

[a] But there will be no (A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he (B)brought into contempt the land of (C)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he (D)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.[b]

[c] (E)The people (F)who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of (G)deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
(H)You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with (I)joy at the harvest,
    as they (J)are glad (K)when they divide the spoil.
(L)For the yoke of his burden,
    (M)and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as (N)on the day of Midian.
(O)For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
(P)For to us a child is born,
    to us (Q)a son is given;
(R)and the government shall be (S)upon[d] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called[e]
Wonderful (T)Counselor, (U)Mighty God,
    (V)Everlasting (W)Father, Prince of (X)Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
    (Y)there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
(Z)with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
(AA)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
    and it will fall on Israel;
and all the people will know,
    (AB)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
    and stirs up his enemies.
12 (AC)The Syrians on the east and (AD)the Philistines on the west
    devour Israel with open mouth.
(AE)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

13 The people (AF)did not turn to him who struck them,
    nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel (AG)head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
15 (AH)the elder and honored man is the head,
    and (AI)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
    and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not (AJ)rejoice over their young men,
    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is (AK)godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth speaks (AL)folly.[f]
(AM)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

18 For wickedness burns like (AN)a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land is scorched,
and (AO)the people are like fuel for the fire;
    (AP)no one spares another.
20 (AQ)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
(AR)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
    together they are (AS)against Judah.
(AT)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
  2. Isaiah 9:1 Or of the Gentiles
  3. Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
  4. Isaiah 9:6 Or is upon
  5. Isaiah 9:6 Or is called
  6. Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things

The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had (A)a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with (B)choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and (C)he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
(D)What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
(E)When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove (F)its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;[a]
(G)I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and (H)briers and thorns shall grow up;
(I)I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

(J)For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;[b]
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry![c]

Woe to the Wicked

Woe to those who (K)join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
(L)“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10 (M)For ten acres[d] of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a (N)homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[e]

11 Woe to those who (O)rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12 (P)They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
(Q)but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people go into exile
    (R)for lack of knowledge;[f]
their (S)honored men go hungry,[g]
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has (T)enlarged its appetite
    and opened (U)its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem[h] and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who (V)exults in her.
15 (W)Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty[i] are brought low.
16 (X)But the Lord of hosts is exalted[j] in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze (Y)as in their pasture,
    and (Z)nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with (AA)cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: (AB)“Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to (AC)those who call evil good
    and good evil,
(AD)who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (AE)wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are (AF)heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who (AG)acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

24 Therefore, (AH)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so (AI)their root will be (AJ)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have (AK)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have (AL)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore (AM)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and (AN)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were (AO)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
(AP)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

26 He will (AQ)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and (AR)whistle for them (AS)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 (AT)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28 (AU)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels (AV)like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and (AW)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, (AX)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

In the year that (AY)King Uzziah died I (AZ)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[k] of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had (BA)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

(BB)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
(BC)the whole earth is full of his glory!”[l]

And (BD)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and (BE)the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! (BF)For I am lost; (BG)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the (BH)King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he (BI)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for (BJ)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

(BK)“‘Keep on hearing,[m] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,[n] but do not perceive.’
10 (BL)Make the heart of this people (BM)dull,[o]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
(BN)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, (BO)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until (BP)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 (BQ)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned[p] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump (BR)remains
    when it is felled.”
(BS)The holy seed[q] is its stump.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
  2. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike
  3. Isaiah 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike
  4. Isaiah 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
  5. Isaiah 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  6. Isaiah 5:13 Or without their knowledge
  7. Isaiah 5:13 Or die of hunger
  8. Isaiah 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
  9. Isaiah 5:15 Hebrew high
  10. Isaiah 5:16 Hebrew high
  11. Isaiah 6:1 Or hem
  12. Isaiah 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth
  13. Isaiah 6:9 Or Hear indeed
  14. Isaiah 6:9 Or see indeed
  15. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew fat
  16. Isaiah 6:13 Or purged
  17. Isaiah 6:13 Or offspring

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