Isaiah 9-12
English Standard Version
For to Us a Child Is Born
9 [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]
2 [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.
3 (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.
4 (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.
5 (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.
6 (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.
7 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
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 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.
10 Woe to those who (AU)decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who (AV)keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and (AW)to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on (AX)the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come (AY)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
(AZ)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, (BA)the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a (BB)godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take (BC)spoil and seize plunder,
and to (BD)tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he (BE)does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
(BF)“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 (BG)Is not (BH)Calno like (BI)Carchemish?
Is not (BJ)Hamath like (BK)Arpad?
(BL)Is not (BM)Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to (BN)the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and (BO)her idols
(BP)as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 (BQ)When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (BR)he[g] will punish the speech[h] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 (BS)For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15 Shall (BT)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his (BU)stout warriors,
and under his glory (BV)a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17 (BW)The light of Israel will become a fire,
and (BX)his Holy One a flame,
and (BY)it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers (BZ)in one day.
18 The glory of (CA)his forest and of his (CB)fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 (CC)In that day (CD)the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more (CE)lean on him who struck them, but (CF)will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, (CG)to the mighty God. 22 (CH)For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, (CI)only a remnant of them will return. (CJ)Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, (CK)who dwell in Zion, (CL)be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as (CM)the Egyptians did. 25 For (CN)in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And (CO)the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck (CP)Midian (CQ)at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it (CR)as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day (CS)his burden will depart from your shoulder, and (CT)his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”[i]
28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through (CU)Migron;
at Michmash he stores (CV)his baggage;
29 they have crossed over (CW)the pass;
at (CX)Geba they lodge for the night;
(CY)Ramah trembles;
(CZ)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of (DA)Gallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor (DB)Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at (DC)Nob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of (DD)the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts
(DE)will lop (DF)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down (DG)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and (DH)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
The Righteous Reign of the Branch
11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of (DI)Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And (DJ)the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(DK)He shall not judge by (DL)what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by (DM)what his ears hear,
4 but (DN)with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall (DO)strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and (DP)with the breath of his lips (DQ)he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and (DR)faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 (DS)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 (DT)They shall not hurt or destroy
in all (DU)my holy mountain;
(DV)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day (DW)the root of (DX)Jesse, who shall stand as (DY)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
11 (DZ)In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, (EA)from Assyria, (EB)from Egypt, from (EC)Pathros, from (ED)Cush,[j] from (EE)Elam, from (EF)Shinar, from (EG)Hamath, and from (EH)the coastlands of the sea.
12 He will raise (EI)a signal for the nations
and will assemble (EJ)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 (EK)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 (EL)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
and together they shall plunder (EM)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand (EN)against (EO)Edom and (EP)Moab,
and (EQ)the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy[k]
(ER)the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over (ES)the River[l]
with his scorching breath,[m]
and strike it into seven channels,
and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be (ET)a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
(EU)as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.
The Lord Is My Strength and My Song
12 You[n] will say (EV)in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
(EW)your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for (EX)the Lord God[o] is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
3 (EY)With joy you[p] will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 (EZ)And you will say in that day:
(FA)“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
(FB)make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim (FC)that his name is exalted.
5 (FD)“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known[q] in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great (FE)in your[r] midst is (FF)the Holy One of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
- Isaiah 9:1 Or of the Gentiles
- Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
- Isaiah 9:6 Or is upon
- Isaiah 9:6 Or is called
- Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things
- Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew I
- Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew fruit
- Isaiah 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Isaiah 11:11 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
- Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
- Isaiah 11:15 Or wind
- Isaiah 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1
- Isaiah 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord
- Isaiah 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4
- Isaiah 12:5 Or this is made known
- Isaiah 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion
Micah 1-3
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah (A)of Moresheth (B)in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw (C)concerning (D)Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Destruction
2 (E)Hear, you peoples, all of you;[a]
(F)pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and (G)let the Lord God be a witness against you,
(H)the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, (I)the Lord is coming out of (J)his place,
and will come down and (K)tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And (L)the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for (M)the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
(N)What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not (O)Samaria?
And what is (P)the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make (Q)Samaria (R)a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones (S)into the valley
and (T)uncover her foundations.
7 All (U)her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
(V)all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from (W)the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8 (X)For this I will lament and wail;
I will go (Y)stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation (Z)like the jackals,
and mourning (AA)like the ostriches.
9 (AB)For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.
10 (AC)Tell it not in (AD)Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
(AE)roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
(AF)in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
shall take away from you its standing place.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down (AG)from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of (AH)Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
(AI)the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts[b]
to (AJ)Moresheth-gath;
the houses of (AK)Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring (AL)a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of (AM)Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to (AN)Adullam.
16 (AO)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
(AP)make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.
Woe to the Oppressors
2 (AQ)Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil (AR)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and (AS)seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against (AT)this family I am devising disaster,[c]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you (AU)shall not walk haughtily,
(AV)for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day (AW)they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
(AX)he changes the portion of my people;
(AY)how he removes it from me!
(AZ)To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none (BA)to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 (BB)“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
(BC)“one should not preach of such things;
(BD)disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
(BE)Has the Lord grown impatient?[d]
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately (BF)my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.[e]
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 (BG)Arise and go,
for this is no (BH)place to rest,
because of (BI)uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and (BJ)utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you (BK)of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
(BL)I will gather (BM)the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
(BN)like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 (BO)He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
(BP)going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
(BQ)the Lord at their head.
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
3 And I said:
(BR)Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
(BS)Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you (BT)who hate the good and love the evil,
(BU)who tear the skin from off my people[f]
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 (BV)who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 (BW)Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
(BX)he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the Lord concerning (BY)the prophets
who lead my people astray,
(BZ)who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore (CA)it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
(CB)The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 (CC)the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
(CD)they shall all cover their lips,
for (CE)there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, (CF)I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob (CG)his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 (CH)Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
(CI)who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 (CJ)who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 (CK)Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
(CL)its priests teach for a price;
(CM)its prophets practice divination for money;
(CN)yet they lean on the Lord and (CO)say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
(CP)No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
(CQ)Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem (CR)shall become a heap of ruins,
and (CS)the mountain of the house (CT)a wooded height.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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