^{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.

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.

^4 (G)Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    ^(H)smitten by God, and afflicted.
^5 (I)But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    ^(J)and with his wounds we are healed.
^6 (K)All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
^(L)and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    ^(M)yet he opened not his mouth;
^(N)like a ^(O)lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, ^(P)who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
    ^(Q)and with a rich man in his death,
although ^(R)he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet ^(S)it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;^[g]
(T)when his soul makes^[h] an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
^(U)the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see^[i] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall ^(V)the righteous one, my servant,
    ^(W)make many to be accounted righteous,
    ^(X)and he shall bear their iniquities.
^12 (Y)Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,^{[j]
    (Z)}and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,^[k]
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
^(AA)yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

^5 (K)Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
    foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
^6 (L)but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
    they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
^(M)you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
    and in their glory you shall boast.
^7 (N)Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
    instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
    they shall have everlasting joy.

^8 (O)For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;^[d]
(P)I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    ^(Q)and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

^10 (R)I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
^(S)for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself ^(T)like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    ^(U)and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause ^(V)righteousness and praise
    to sprout up before all the nations.