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Isaiah 9:8-10:4
The Message
Isaiah 9:8-10:4
The Message
God Answered Fire with Fire
8-10 The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
“Things aren’t that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we’ll replant them with finer trees.”
11-12 So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
13-17 But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The bigheaded elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
18-21 Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their greedy hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
* * *
You Who Legislate Evil
10 1-4 Doom to you who legislate evil,
who make laws that make victims—
Laws that make misery for the poor,
that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
What good will your money do you?
A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,
or just some corpses stacked in the street.
Even after all this, God is still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
Isaiah 9:8-10:4
New International Version
Isaiah 9:8-10:4
New International Version
The Lord’s Anger Against Israel
8 The Lord has sent a message(A) against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it—
Ephraim(B) and the inhabitants of Samaria(C)—
who say with pride
and arrogance(D) of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;(E)
the fig(F) trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.(G)”
11 But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s(H) foes against them
and has spurred their enemies on.
12 Arameans(I) from the east and Philistines(J) from the west
have devoured(K) Israel with open mouth.
13 But the people have not returned(N) to him who struck(O) them,
nor have they sought(P) the Lord Almighty.
14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reed(Q) in a single day;(R)
15 the elders(S) and dignitaries(T) are the head,
the prophets(U) who teach lies(V) are the tail.
16 Those who guide(W) this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.(X)
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,(Y)
nor will he pity(Z) the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly(AA) and wicked,(AB)
every mouth speaks folly.(AC)
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.(AD)
18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;(AE)
it consumes briers and thorns,(AF)
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,(AG)
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath(AH) of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorched(AI)
and the people will be fuel for the fire;(AJ)
they will not spare one another.(AK)
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;(AL)
on the left they will eat,(AM)
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring[a]:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;(AN)
together they will turn against Judah.(AO)
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.(AP)
10 Woe(AQ) to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,(AR)
2 to deprive(AS) the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,(AT)
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.(AU)
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,(AV)
when disaster(AW) comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?(AX)
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives(AY)
or fall among the slain.(AZ)
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(BA)
his hand is still upraised.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:20 Or arm
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.