Beginning

¹ The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.
² You have enlarged the nation
    and given them great joy;
they rejoice before you
    as those who rejoice at the harvest,
    as they exult when dividing spoils.
³ For the yoke that burdened them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
and the rod of their oppressor
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.^[b]
4 For every boot of a warrior that tramped in battle
    and every garment soaked in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁵ For a child has been born to us,
    a son has been given to us.
Upon his shoulders dominion rests,
    and this is the name he has been given:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁶ His dominion will grow continually,
    and there will be endless peace
bestowed on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom.
He will establish and sustain it
    with justice and integrity
from this time onward and forevermore;
    the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

⁷ The Lord has sent forth his word against Jacob,
    and it has fallen on Israel.
^{8     [c]}All the people were aware of this,
    Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
    but they said in their arrogance and pride of heart,
⁹ “The bricks have fallen down,
    but we will rebuild with dressed stones.
The sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will replace them with cedars.”
¹⁰ In response the Lord raised up foes against them
    and spurred on their enemies,
¹¹ the Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west,
    and they devoured Israel with gaping jaws.
Yet after all this his anger has not abated
    and his hand is still outstretched.
¹² But the people did not turn to him who struck them,
    nor did they seek the Lord of hosts.
¹³ Therefore, the Lord cut off from Israel
    head and tail, palm branch and reed,
    in a single day.
¹⁴ [The elders and the nobles are the head;
    the prophets who teach lies are the tail.]
¹⁵ For those who were leaders of the people led them astray,
    and those who were led by them were swallowed up.
¹⁶ For this reason
    the Lord did not show pity to their young people
    or have compassion on their orphans and widows,
since all of them were godless evildoers
    and every word they spoke was impious.
Yet after all this, his anger has not abated
    and his hand is still outstretched.
¹⁷ For wickedness continued to burn like a fire,
    consuming briers and thorns,
and setting ablaze the thickets of the forest
    which rose upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁸ The land was set ablaze
    by the wrath of the Lord of hosts,
and the people became like fuel for the fire;
    no one spared his brother.
¹⁹ They gorged on the right but were still hungry;
    they devoured on the left but were not satisfied;
    many ate the flesh of their own offspring.
²⁰ Manasseh devoured Ephraim,
    and Ephraim devoured Manasseh;
    together they turned against Judah.
²¹ Yet after all this, his anger has not abated
    and his hand is still outstretched.

¹ Woe to those who enact unjust laws
    and enforce oppressive statutes,
² thereby depriving the needy of justice,
    and making it impossible for the poorest of my people
    to have their rights upheld,
as they plunder the widow
    and make the orphans their prey.
³ What will you do on the day of punishment
    when disaster befalls you from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your riches,
⁴ so that you can avoid cowering among the captives
    or falling among the slain?
Yet after all this, his wrath has not abated;
    his hand is still outstretched.

^{5     [d]}Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
    the club in their hands is my fury.
⁶ Against a godless people I send him forth,
    against a nation who aroused my wrath,
commanding him to pillage and plunder
    and to trample on them like mud in the street.
⁷ But this is not his intention,
    nor does he have this in mind.
His only thought is complete destruction
    and to liquidate as many nations as possible.
⁸ For he says,
    “Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish?
    Is not Hamath like Arpad?
    Is not Samaria like Damascus?^[e]
10 My hand has overcome idolatrous kingdoms
    that had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria.
¹¹ As I did to Samaria and her idols,
    shall I not also do to Jerusalem and her images?”

“By my own power I have accomplished all this,
    and also by my wisdom, for I have great intelligence.
I have wiped out the boundaries of nations
    and have plundered their treasures;
    like a giant I have subjugated their inhabitants.
¹⁴ My hand has discovered a nest
    in which the riches of the nation have been stored.
And as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned,
    so I have collected the entire world;
not one fluttered a wing
    or opened a beak to chirp.”
¹⁵ Does the ax consider itself more important
    than the man who swings it,
or does the saw claim greater credit
    than the man who uses it?
No sword can control the man who yields it,
    nor can a club have power over the one who raises it.
¹⁶ Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
    will afflict a debilitating illness on his sturdy warriors,
and beneath his glory a fever will be kindled
    like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The Light of Israel will become a fire
    and its Holy One a flame
that in a single day
    will burn up and consume
    his thorns and his briers.
¹⁸ His splendid forests and orchards
    will be totally destroyed, both body and soul,
    as when an invalid wastes away.
¹⁹ What remains of the trees of the forest
    will be so few
that any young child
    will be able to record their number.
^20 [f]When that day arrives,
    the remnant of Israel
    and the survivors of the house of Jacob
will cease to rely upon the one who struck them^[g]
    and will rather place their trust in the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.
²¹ A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
    to the mighty God.
²² Although your people, O Israel,
    may be as numerous as the sands of the sea,
    only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction has been decreed
    as righteousness and justice demand.
²³ For throughout the entire land
    the Lord God of hosts will enforce
    the final destruction that has been decreed.

O my people who dwell in Zion,
    do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
even when they beat you with a rod
    and raise their staff against you
    as the Egyptians did.
²⁵ For it will be only a short time
    until my wrath will subside
    and I will direct my anger to their destruction.
²⁶ Then the Lord of hosts will inflict his retribution
    as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb,
and he will raise his staff over the sea
    as he did against Egypt.
²⁷ On that day
    his burden will be removed from your shoulder
and his yoke will be broken
    and fall from your neck.

Sennacherib and his army have come up from Rimmon,
²⁸     and they have come to Aiath.
They have passed through Migron
    and stored their supplies at Michmash.
²⁹ Once they crossed the ravine,
    they camped for the night at Geba.
Ramah is terrified,
    Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry out loudly, Bath-gallim!
    Listen carefully, Laishah!
    Answer her, Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim have sought cover.
³² This day Sennacherib will halt at Nob
    and shake his fist
at the mount of daughter Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.
³³ Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    will sever the boughs with frightening power.
The tallest trees will be cut down
    and the lofty ones will be laid low.
³⁴ The thickets of the forest he will demolish with an ax,
    and Lebanon will fall at the onslaught of the Mighty One.

¹ A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch will grow from his roots.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him:
    a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and power,
    a Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord,
³     and his delight will be the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by outward appearances
    or reach a verdict based on hearsay.
⁴ Rather, he will judge the poor with justice
    and render fair decisions for the weak and the poor.
He will strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around his waist
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
⁶ Then the wolf will live alongside the lamb,
    and the leopard will lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion will browse together,
    with a little child to guide them.
⁷ The cow and the bear will graze side by side;
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat hay like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play by the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will lay his hand
    on the viper’s nest.
⁹ No injury or harm will occur
    on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord
    just as water covers the sea.

¹⁰ On that day the root of Jesse
    will be established as a signal to the nations.
They will come forth to unite under him,
    and his dwelling will be glorious.
¹¹ When that day comes,
    the Lord will reach out his hand a second time
to recover the remnant of his people
    from Assyria and Egypt,
from Patmos,^[j] Ethiopia, and Elam,
    from Shinar, Hamath, and the islands of the sea.
¹² He will raise a signal to the nations
    and assemble the outcasts of Israel.
He will also gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ The jealousy of Ephraim will cease
    and the hostility of Judah will end.
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
    nor will Judah have any hostility toward Ephraim.
¹⁴ Together they will swoop down
    on the foothills of the Philistines to the west
    and plunder the people of the east.
Edom and Moab will become subject to their rule,
    and the Ammonites will obey them.^[k]
15 The Lord will dry up a pathway
    through the Sea of Egypt,
and he will wave his hand over the Euphrates
    in his fierce anger,
splitting it into seven streams
    so that it can be crossed on foot.
¹⁶ Thus there will be a highway
    for the remnant of his people from Assyria,
as there was for the Israelites
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

I will give you thanks, O Lord.
    Even though you were angry with me,
your anger has abated
    and you have consoled me.
² God truly is my salvation;
    I will trust in him and be unafraid.
For the Lord is my strength and my source of courage;
    he has been my salvation.
³ With joy you will draw water
    from the fountain of salvation,
⁴     and you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
    invoke his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
    proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ Sing praise to the Lord for his mighty deeds;
    let this be known throughout the entire world.
⁶ Cry out and shout for joy,
    all of you who dwell on Zion,
for great in your midst
    is the Holy One of Israel.