Isaiah 9
New Living Translation
Hope in the Messiah
9 [a]Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
2 [b]The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,[c]
a light will shine.
3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5 The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[d] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
The Lord’s Anger against Israel
8 The Lord has spoken out against Jacob;
his judgment has fallen upon Israel.
9 And the people of Israel[e] and Samaria,
who spoke with such pride and arrogance,
will soon know it.
10 They said, “We will replace the broken bricks of our ruins with finished stone,
and replant the felled sycamore-fig trees with cedars.”
11 But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel
and stir up all their foes.
12 The Syrians[f] from the east and the Philistines from the west
will bare their fangs and devour Israel.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
13 For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent.
They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
14 Therefore, in a single day the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail,
the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.
15 The leaders of Israel are the head,
and the lying prophets are the tail.
16 For the leaders of the people have misled them.
They have led them down the path of destruction.
17 That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men
and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans.
For they are all wicked hypocrites,
and they all speak foolishness.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
18 This wickedness is like a brushfire.
It burns not only briers and thorns
but also sets the forests ablaze.
Its burning sends up clouds of smoke.
19 The land will be blackened
by the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The people will be fuel for the fire,
and no one will spare even his own brother.
20 They will attack their neighbor on the right
but will still be hungry.
They will devour their neighbor on the left
but will not be satisfied.
In the end they will even eat their own children.[g]
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim,
Ephraim will feed on Manasseh,
and both will devour Judah.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
Footnotes
- 9:1 Verse 9:1 is numbered 8:23 in Hebrew text.
- 9:2a Verses 9:2-21 are numbered 9:1-20 in Hebrew text.
- 9:2b Greek version reads a land where death casts its shadow. Compare Matt 4:16.
- 9:6 Or Wonderful, Counselor.
- 9:9 Hebrew of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
- 9:12 Hebrew Arameans.
- 9:20 Or eat their own arms.
Isaiah 9
New King James Version
The Government of the Promised Son(A)
9 Nevertheless (B)the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at (C)first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And (D)afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 (E)The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And [a]increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice (F)when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of (G)Midian.
5 For every warrior’s [b]sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
(H)Will be used for burning and fuel [c]of fire.
6 (I)For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a (J)Son is given;
And (K)the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
(L)Wonderful, Counselor, (M)Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, (N)Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
(O)There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The (P)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The Punishment of Samaria
8 The Lord sent a word against (Q)Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All the people will know—
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is [d]stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush (R)in one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For (S)the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord (T)will have no joy in their young men,
Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
And every mouth speaks [e]folly.
(U)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness (V)burns as the fire;
It shall devour the briers and thorns,
And kindle in the thickets of the forest;
They shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
(W)The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
(X)No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall [f]snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
(Y)And not be satisfied;
(Z)Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be (AA)against Judah.
(AB)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., Vg. not increased joy; LXX Most of the people You brought down in Your joy
- Isaiah 9:5 boot
- Isaiah 9:5 for the fire
- Isaiah 9:12 In judgment
- Isaiah 9:17 foolishness
- Isaiah 9:20 slice off or tear
Isaiah 9
Amplified Bible
Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace
9 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
2
The people who walk in [spiritual] darkness
[a]Will see a great Light;
Those who live in the dark land,
The Light will shine on them.(A)
3
You [O God] will increase the nation,
You will multiply their joy;
They will rejoice before You
Like the joy and jubilation of the harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of victory].
4
For You will break the yoke of Israel’s burden and the staff (goad) on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the [b]battle of Midian.(B)
5
For every boot of the marching warrior in the battle tumult,
And [every soldier’s] garment rolled in blood, will be used for burning, fuel for the fire.
6
For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(C)
7
There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.(D)
God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8
The Lord sends a word (message) against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel [the ten northern tribes, the kingdom of Ephraim].
9
And all the people know it,
That is, [c]Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10
“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild [all the better] with ashlar (hewed stones);
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with [expensive] cedars.”
11
Therefore the Lord raises against Ephraim adversaries from Rezin [king of Aram]
And spurs their enemies on,
12
The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
13
Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].
14
Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel,
Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.
15
The elderly and honorable man, he is the head;
And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16
For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray;
And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.
17
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
18
For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns,
It even sets the forest thickets ablaze;
And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.
19
By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up,
And the people are like fuel for the fire;
No man spares his brother.
20
They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each eats the flesh of his own arm.
21
[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:2 Or have seen, Hebrew perfect tense. The perfect tense is used frequently in this passage and should probably be interpreted as the prophetic future, that is, the use of the perfect (past) tense to describe a future event as a certainty.
- Isaiah 9:4 A reference to Gideon’s great victory over the Midianites (Judg 7:22-25).
- Isaiah 9:9 The names “Israel” and “Ephraim” are used interchangeably to refer to the ten tribes of the northern kingdom.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
