Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

[a]But there will be no more (A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He (B)treated the (C)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles.

[c](D)The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
(E)You will multiply the nation,
You (F)will [d]increase [e]their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy [f]of harvest,
As people (G)rejoice when they divide the spoils.
For (H)You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their (I)oppressor, as [g]at the battle of (J)Midian.
For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
For a (K)Child will be born to us, a (L)Son will be given to us;
And the (M)government will [h]rest (N)on His shoulders;
And His name will be called (O)Wonderful Counselor, (P)Mighty God,
Eternal (Q)Father, Prince of (R)Peace.
There will be (S)no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the (T)throne of David and over [i]his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with (U)justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
(V)The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

The Lord sends a [j]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
And all the people know it,
That is, (W)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in (X)arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will (Y)rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord raises superior adversaries against them from (Z)Rezin
And provokes their enemies,
12 The Arameans from the east and the (AA)Philistines from the west;
And they (AB)devour Israel with [k]gaping jaws.
(AC)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.

13 Yet the people (AD)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they (AE)seek the Lord of armies.
14 So the Lord cuts off (AF)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush (AG)in a single day.
15 The head is (AH)the elder and esteemed man,
And the prophet who teaches (AI)falsehood is the tail.
16 (AJ)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are [l]confused.
17 Therefore the Lord does (AK)not rejoice over their young men,
(AL)Nor does He have compassion on their [m]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is (AM)godless and an (AN)evildoer,
And every (AO)mouth is speaking foolishness.
(AP)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.

18 (AQ)For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the (AR)wrath of the Lord of armies the (AS)land is burned,
And the (AT)people are like fuel for the fire;
No (AU)one spares his brother.
20 [n]They devour what is on the right hand but are still (AV)hungry,
And [o]they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the (AW)flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
(AX)And together they are against Judah.
(AY)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Heb
  2. Isaiah 9:1 Or nations
  3. Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Heb
  4. Isaiah 9:3 Another reading is not increase
  5. Isaiah 9:3 Lit the
  6. Isaiah 9:3 Lit in
  7. Isaiah 9:4 Lit in the day of Midian
  8. Isaiah 9:6 Lit be
  9. Isaiah 9:7 I.e., David’s
  10. Isaiah 9:8 Lit word
  11. Isaiah 9:12 Lit the whole mouth
  12. Isaiah 9:16 Or swallowed up
  13. Isaiah 9:17 Or fatherless
  14. Isaiah 9:20 Lit And he slices
  15. Isaiah 9:20 Lit he eats

Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 Then a (A)shoot will spring from the (B)stem of Jesse,
And a (C)Branch from (D)his roots will bear fruit.
The (E)Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of (F)wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and (G)strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes (H)see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
But with (I)righteousness He will judge the (J)poor,
And decide with fairness for the (K)humble of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the (L)rod of His mouth,
And with the (M)breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also (N)righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
And (O)faithfulness the belt around His waist.

And the (P)wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion [a]and the fattened steer will be together;
And a little boy will lead them.
Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the (Q)lion will eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will (R)not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the (S)earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

10 Then on that day
The (T)nations will resort to the (U)root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a (V)signal flag for the peoples;
And His (W)resting place will be [b]glorious.

The Restored Remnant

11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover with His hand the second time
The (X)remnant of His people who will remain,
From (Y)Assyria, (Z)Egypt, Pathros, Cush, (AA)Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the [c](AB)islands of the sea.
12 And He will lift up a (AC)flag for the nations
And (AD)assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
13 Then the (AE)jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be eliminated;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14 They will (AF)swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the (AG)west;
Together they will (AH)plunder the [d]people of the east;
[e]They will possess (AI)Edom and (AJ)Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be [f]subject to them.
15 And the Lord will [g](AK)utterly destroy
The tongue of the [h]Sea of Egypt;
And He will (AL)wave His hand over the (AM)Euphrates River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make people walk over in dry sandals.
16 And there will be a (AN)highway from Assyria
For the (AO)remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
On (AP)the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 Some ancient versions will feed together
  2. Isaiah 11:10 Lit glory
  3. Isaiah 11:11 Or coastlands
  4. Isaiah 11:14 Lit sons
  5. Isaiah 11:14 Lit Edom and Moab will be the outstretching of their hand
  6. Isaiah 11:14 Lit their obedience
  7. Isaiah 11:15 Another reading is dry up the tongue
  8. Isaiah 11:15 Perhaps the Red Sea

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