Isaiah 9:13-17
New English Translation
13 The people did not return to the one who struck them,
they did not seek reconciliation[a] with the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,
both the shoots and stalk[b] in one day.
15 The leaders and the highly respected people[c] are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,
and the people being led were destroyed.[d]
17 So the Lord was not pleased[e] with their young men,
he took no pity[f] on their orphans and widows;
for the whole nation was godless[g] and did wicked things,[h]
every mouth was speaking disgraceful words.[i]
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.[j]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:13 tn This verse describes the people’s response to the judgment described in vv. 11-12. The perfects are understood as indicating simple past.
- Isaiah 9:14 sn The metaphor in this line is that of a reed being cut down.
- Isaiah 9:15 tn Heb “the elder and the one lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.
- Isaiah 9:16 tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mebullaʿim) from בָּלַע (balaʿ, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.
- Isaiah 9:17 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”
- Isaiah 9:17 tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yerakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)
- Isaiah 9:17 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”
- Isaiah 9:17 tn מֵרַע (meraʿ) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (raʿaʿ, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.
- Isaiah 9:17 tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.
- Isaiah 9:17 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”sn See the note at 9:12.
Isaiah 9:13-17
New Living Translation
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.
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