Bible-Reading.comIsaiah 9
1Nevertheless the darkness shall not be as when the distress was in the land, at the time he at first lightly, and afterwards heavily, visited the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, -- the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:
2the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light hath shone.
3Thou hast multiplied the nation, hast increased its joy: they joy before thee like to the joy in harvest; as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
5For every boot of him that is shod for the tumult, and the garment rolled in blood, shall be for burning, fuel for fire.
6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.
8The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it lighteth upon Israel.
9And all the people shall know it, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in pride and stoutness of heart,
10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamore trees are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.
11And Jehovah will set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and arm his enemies,
12the Syrians on the east, and the Philistines on the west; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
13But the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, and they do not seek Jehovah of hosts.
14And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day:
15the ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16For the guides of this people mislead them; and they that are guided by them are swallowed up.
17Therefore the Lord will not rejoice in their young men, neither will he have mercy on their fatherless and on their widows; for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
18For wickedness burneth as a fire: it devoureth briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they go rolling up like a pillar of smoke.
19Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burned up, and the people is as fuel for fire: a man spareth not his brother;
20and he snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry, and eateth on the left hand; and they are not satisfied. They eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
21Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together are against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 10
1Woe unto them that decree iniquitous decrees, and to the writers that prescribe oppression,
2to turn away the poor from judgment, and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people; that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
3And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the sudden destruction which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help, and where will ye leave your glory?
4They can but crouch under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
5Ah! the Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge; to take the spoil, and to seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7But he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; for it is in his heart to extirpate and cut off nations not a few.
8For he saith, Are not my princes all kings?
9Is not Calno as Karkemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
10As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, -- and their graven images exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11-- shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her images?
12And it shall come to pass, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stoutness of heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
13For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent; and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and, like a valiant man, I have brought down them that sit on thrones;
14and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples, and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.
15-- Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it? As if the rod should wield them that lift it up; as if the staff should lift up him who is not wood!
16Therefore shall the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness, and under his glory he shall kindle a burning, like the burning of a fire:
17and the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day,
18and it shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a sick man fainteth.
19And the remainder of the trees of his forest shall be few: yea, a child might write them.
20And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob shall no more again rely upon him that smote them; but they shall rely upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
22For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return: the consumption determined shall overflow in righteousness.
23For a consumption, and one determined, will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, accomplish in the midst of all the land.
24Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt:
25for yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and mine anger, in their destruction.
26And Jehovah of hosts will stir up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod shall be upon the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck; and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. ...
28He is come to Aiath, he hath passed through Migron; at Michmash he layeth up his baggage.
29They are gone through the pass; they make their lodging at Geba: Ramah trembleth, Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30Lift up thy voice, daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laish! -- Poor Anathoth!
31Madmenah is fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim take to flight.
32Still a day of halting at Nob; he shaketh his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. ...
33Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the boughs with violence; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be brought low;
34and he shall make clearings in the thickets of the forest with iron; and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.