Isaiah 9
New King James Version
The Government of the Promised Son(A)
9 Nevertheless (B)the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at (C)first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And (D)afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 (E)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.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And [a]increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice (F)when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of (G)Midian.
5 For every warrior’s [b]sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
(H)Will be used for burning and fuel [c]of fire.
6 (I)For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a (J)Son is given;
And (K)the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
(L)Wonderful, Counselor, (M)Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, (N)Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
(O)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 (P)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The Punishment of Samaria
8 The Lord sent a word against (Q)Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All 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.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The 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 [d]stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush (R)in one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For (S)the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord (T)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 [e]folly.
(U)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness (V)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.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
(W)The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
(X)No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall [f]snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
(Y)And not be satisfied;
(Z)Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be (AA)against Judah.
(AB)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., Vg. not increased joy; LXX Most of the people You brought down in Your joy
- Isaiah 9:5 boot
- Isaiah 9:5 for the fire
- Isaiah 9:12 In judgment
- Isaiah 9:17 foolishness
- Isaiah 9:20 slice off or tear
Isaiah 9
International Children’s Bible
A New Day Is Coming
9 But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame. But in the future that land will be made great. That land stretches from the way along the Mediterranean Sea to the land along the Jordan River. And it goes north to Galilee where the people who are not Israelites live.
2 Now those people live in darkness.
But they will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.
3 God, you will cause the nation to grow.
You will make the people happy.
And they will show their happiness to you.
It will be like the joy during harvest time.
It will be like the joy of people
taking what they have won in war.
4 Like the time you defeated Midian,
you will take away their heavy load.
You will take away the heavy pole from their backs.
You will take away the rod the enemy uses to punish your people.
5 Every boot that marched in battle will be destroyed.
Every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into the fire.
6 A child will be born to us.
God will give a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom.
It will continue to grow.
He will rule as king on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom.
He will make it strong,
by ruling with goodness and fair judgment.
He will rule it forever and ever.
The Lord of heaven’s armies will do this
because of his strong love for his people.
God Will Punish Israel
8 The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob.
That message says that God will judge Israel.
9 Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria,
will know that God punished them.
Those people, who are proud and who brag now, say this:
10 “These bricks have fallen,
but we will build again with cut stones.
These small trees have been chopped down.
But we will put great cedars there.”
11 But the Lord will make the enemies of Rezin strong against them.
He will stir up their enemies against them.
12 The Arameans come from the east
and the Philistines from the west.
They will eat up Israel with their armies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to punish the people.
13 But the people do not return to the one who struck them.
They do not follow the Lord of heaven’s armies.
14 So the Lord will cut off Israel’s head and tail.
He will take away both the branch and stalk in one day.
15 The elders and important men are the head.
The prophets who speak lies are the tail.
16 Those who lead the people lead them in the wrong direction.
And those who follow them will be destroyed.
17 So the Lord is not happy with the young men.
He will not show mercy to the widows and orphans.
All the people are separated from God and are very evil.
They all speak lies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
18 Evil is like a small fire.
First, it burns weeds and thorns.
Next, it burns the larger bushes in the forest.
They all go up in a column of smoke.
19 The Lord of heaven’s armies is angry.
So the land will be burned.
All the people will be burned in that fire.
No one will try to save his brother.
20 People will grab something on the right,
but they will still be hungry.
They will eat something on the left,
but they will not be filled.
Then each person will turn and eat his own children.
21 The people of Manasseh will fight against the people of Ephraim.
And Ephraim will fight against Manasseh.
Then both of them will turn against Judah.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.