Isaiah 9
Good News Translation
9 (A)There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble.
The Future King
The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live.
2 (B)The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows,
but now light is shining on them.
3 You have given them great joy,[a] Lord;
you have made them happy.
They rejoice in what you have done,
as people rejoice when they harvest grain
or when they divide captured wealth.
4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them
and the rod that beat their shoulders.
You have defeated the nation
that oppressed and exploited your people,
just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago.
5 The boots of the invading army
and all their bloodstained clothing
will be destroyed by fire.
6 A child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he will be our ruler.
He will be called, “Wonderful[b] Counselor,”
“Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,”
“Prince of Peace.”
7 (C)His royal power will continue to grow;
his kingdom will always be at peace.
He will rule as King David's successor,
basing his power on right and justice,
from now until the end of time.
The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this.
The Lord Will Punish Israel
8 The Lord has pronounced judgment on the kingdom of Israel, on the descendants of Jacob. 9 All the people of Israel, everyone who lives in the city of Samaria, will know that he has done this. Now they are proud and arrogant. They say, 10 “The brick buildings have fallen down, but we will replace them with stone buildings. The beams of sycamore wood have been cut down, but we will replace them with the finest cedar.”
11 The Lord has stirred up their enemies[c] to attack them. 12 Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.
13 The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him. 14 In a single day the Lord will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail. 15 The old and honorable men are the head—and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies! 16 Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them. 17 And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity on any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish.
18 The wickedness of the people burns like a fire that destroys thorn bushes and thistles. It burns like a forest fire that sends up columns of smoke. 19 Because the Lord Almighty is angry, his punishment burns like a fire throughout the land and destroys the people, and it is each of us for ourselves. 20 Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children! 21 The people of Manasseh and the people of Ephraim attack each other, and together they attack Judah. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:3 Probable text You have given them great joy; Hebrew You have increased the nation.
- Isaiah 9:6 Wonderful; or Wise.
- Isaiah 9:11 Probable text their enemies; Hebrew the enemies of Rezin.
Isaiah 9
Lexham English Bible
New Light: The Birth of a King
9 [a] But there will be no gloom for those who were in distress.[b]
In former times he[c] treated the land of Zebulun and Naphtali with contempt, but in the future he will honor the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness.
3 You have made the nation numerous;
you have not[d] made the joy great.
They rejoice in your presence as with joy at the harvest,
as they rejoice when they divide plunder.
4 For you have shattered the yoke of its burden
and the stick of its shoulder,
the rod of its oppressor, on[e] the day of Midian.
5 For every boot that marches and shakes the earth[f]
and garment rolled in blood
will[g] be for burning—fire fuel.
6 For a child has been born for us;
a son has been given to us.
And the dominion will be on his shoulder,
and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His dominion will grow continually,
and to peace there will be no end[h]
on[i] the throne of David and over[j] his kingdom,
to establish it[k] and sustain it
with justice and righteousness
now and forever.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.
Yahweh’s Anger against Arrogance
8 The Lord has sent out a word against Jacob,
and it fell on Israel.
9 And all of the people knew it,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria
in pride and arrogance of heart, saying,
10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stone.
The sycamore-fig trees were felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
11 So Yahweh strengthened the adversaries of Rezin[l] against him,
and he provoked his enemies—
12 Aram from the east
and Philistines[m] from the west—
and they devoured Israel with the whole mouth.
He has not turned away his anger in all of this,
and his hand is still stretched out.
13 And the people did not turn to the one who struck it,[n]
and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts.
14 So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel,
palm branch and reed in one day.
15 Elders[o] and the respectable[p] are the head,
and prophets[q] who teach lies[r] are the tail.
16 And the leaders of this people were misleading them,
and those who were led were confused.
17 Therefore the Lord did not rejoice over its young men,
and he did not have compassion on its orphans and widows,
for everyone was godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth was speaking folly.
In all of this his anger did not turn away,
and still his hand is stretched out.
18 For wickedness burned like fire;
it consumed brier and thorn.
And it kindled the thickets of the forest,
and they swirled upward in a column of smoke.
19 The land was burned through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts,
and the people became like fire fuel.
People had no compassion toward each other.[s]
20 They devoured on the right but still were hungry
and devoured on the left but they were not satisfied.
Each one devoured the flesh of his arm,
21 Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
together they were against Judah.
In all of this his anger has not turned away,
and still his hand is stretched out.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:1 Isaiah 9:1–21 in the English Bible is 8:23–9:20 in the Hebrew Bible
- Isaiah 9:1 Literally “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her”
- Isaiah 9:1 That is, Yahweh
- Isaiah 9:3 The written text (Kethib) is “not,” but the reading tradition (Qere) is “for it”
- Isaiah 9:4 Hebrew “like”; the Hebrew letters for “like” and “on” look alike
- Isaiah 9:5 Literally “marching with shaking,” which might mean “marching is with shaking”
- Isaiah 9:5 Literally “and it will”
- Isaiah 9:7 Literally “There is no end to the increase of the dominion and to peace”
- Isaiah 9:7 Or “for”
- Isaiah 9:7 Or “for”
- Isaiah 9:7 That is, the kingdom
- Isaiah 9:11 Or “his adversaries” if a copyist added “of Rezin” in error
- Isaiah 9:12 Hebrew “Philistine”
- Isaiah 9:13 That is, the people
- Isaiah 9:15 Hebrew “Elder”
- Isaiah 9:15 Literally “one lifted up of face”
- Isaiah 9:15 Hebrew “prophet”
- Isaiah 9:15 Hebrew “lie”
- Isaiah 9:19 Literally “A man does not have compassion toward his brother”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software