The Darkness Turns to Light

19 When someone tells you to consult(A) mediums and spiritists,(B) who whisper and mutter,(C) should not a people inquire(D) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(E) and the testimony of warning.(F) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(G) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(H) they will roam through the land;(I) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(J) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(K) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(L)

[a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom(M) for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,(N) but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness(O)
    have seen a great light;(P)
on those living in the land of deep darkness(Q)
    a light has dawned.(R)
You have enlarged the nation(S)
    and increased their joy;(T)
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.(U)
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,(V)
    you have shattered(W)
the yoke(X) that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,(Y)
    the rod of their oppressor.(Z)
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,(AA)
    will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,(AB)
    to us a son is given,(AC)
    and the government(AD) will be on his shoulders.(AE)
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor,(AF) Mighty God,(AG)
    Everlasting(AH) Father,(AI) Prince of Peace.(AJ)
Of the greatness of his government(AK) and peace(AL)
    there will be no end.(AM)
He will reign(AN) on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice(AO) and righteousness(AP)
    from that time on and forever.(AQ)
The zeal(AR) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-21 is numbered 9:1-20.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.