18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;(A)
    it consumes briers and thorns,(B)
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,(C)
    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath(D) of the Lord Almighty
    the land will be scorched(E)
and the people will be fuel for the fire;(F)
    they will not spare one another.(G)
20 On the right they will devour,
    but still be hungry;(H)
on the left they will eat,(I)
    but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring[a]:
21     Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;(J)
    together they will turn against Judah.(K)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 9:20 Or arm

18 “For wickedness has burned like a blaze
    that consumes briers and thorns;
it sets thickets of the forest on fire,
    and skyward[a] they swirl
        in a column of smoke.
19 From[b] the wrath of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
    the land has been scorched,
and the people have become like fuel for the fire;
        no one will spare his neighbor.
20 They cut meat on the right,
    but they’re still hungry,
and they devour also[c] on the left,
    but they’re not satisfied;
        each devours the flesh of his own children.[d]
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim,
    and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.

“Yet[e] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 9:18 Lit. upward
  2. Isaiah 9:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads By
  3. Isaiah 9:20 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lacks also
  4. Isaiah 9:20 So 4QIsae; or arms; 1QIsaa MT read offspring or arm; LXX reads arm
  5. Isaiah 9:21 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack Yet
  6. Isaiah 9:21 DSS MT lack ready to strike