Bible-Reading.comIsaiah 9
1In earlier times he made the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali of small value, but after that he gave it glory, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2The people who went in the dark have seen a great light, and for those who were living in the land of the deepest night, the light is shining.
3You have made them very glad, increasing their joy. They are glad before you as men are glad in the time of getting in the grain, or when they make division of the goods taken in war.
4For by your hand the yoke on his neck and the rod on his back, even the rod of his cruel master, have been broken, as in the day of Midian.
5For every boot of the man of war with his sounding step, and the clothing rolled in blood, will be for burning, food for the fire.
6For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
8The Lord has sent a word to Jacob, and it has come on Israel;
9And all the people will have experience of it, even Ephraim and the men of Samaria, who say in the pride of their uplifted hearts,
10The bricks have come down, but we will put up buildings of cut stone in their place: the sycamores are cut down, but they will be changed to cedars.
11For this cause the Lord has made strong the haters of Israel, driving them on to make war against him;
12Aram on the east, and the Philistines on the west, who have come against Israel with open mouths. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13But the heart of the people was not turned to him who sent punishment on them, and they made no prayer to the Lord of armies.
14For this cause the Lord took away from Israel head and tail, high and low, in one day.
15The man who is honoured and responsible is the head, and the prophet who gives false teaching is the tail.
16For the guides of this people are the cause of their wandering from the right way, and those who are guided by them come to destruction.
17For this cause the Lord will have no pleasure in their young men, and no pity on their widows and the children without fathers: for they are all haters of God and evil-doers, and foolish words come from every mouth. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18For evil was burning like a fire; the blackberries and thorns were burned up; the thick woods took fire, rolling up in dark clouds of smoke.
19The land was dark with the wrath of the Lord of armies: the people were like those who take men's flesh for food.
20On the right a man was cutting off bits and was still in need; on the left a man took a meal but had not enough; no man had pity on his brother; every man was making a meal of the flesh of his neighbour.
21Manasseh was making a meal of Ephraim, and Ephraim of Manasseh; and together they were attacking Judah. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 10
1Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts:
2Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father.
3And what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the destruction which is coming from far? to whom will you go for help, and what will become of your glory?
4... For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
5Ho! Assyrian, the rod of my wrath, the instrument of my punishment!
6I will send him against a nation of wrongdoers, and against the people of my wrath I will give him orders, to take their wealth in war, crushing them down like the dust in the streets.
7But this is not what is in his mind, and this is not his design; but his purpose is destruction, and the cutting off of more and more nations.
8For he says, Are not all my captains kings?
9Will not the fate of Calno be like that of Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10As my hand has come on the kingdoms of the images, whose pictured images were more in number than those of Jerusalem and Samaria;
11So, as I have done to Samaria and her images, I will do to Jerusalem and her images.
12For this cause it will be that, when the purpose of the Lord against Mount Zion and Jerusalem is complete, I will send punishment on the pride of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his uplifted eyes.
13For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my knowledge, for I am wise: and I have taken away the limits of the peoples' lands, and the stores of their wealth have become mine; and I have made towns low in the dust, sending destruction on those living in them;
14And I have put my hands on the wealth of the peoples, as on the place where a bird has put her eggs; and as a man may take the eggs from which a bird has gone, so I have taken all the earth for myself: and not a wing was moved, and not a mouth gave out a sound.
15Will the axe say high-sounding words against him who is using it, or the blade be full of pride against him who is cutting with it? As if a rod had the power of shaking him who is using it, or as if a stick might take up him who is not wood.
16For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, will make his fat become wasted; and in his inner parts a fire will be lighted like a burning flame.
17And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: wasting and burning up his thorns in one day.
18And he will put an end to the glory of his woods and of his planted fields, soul and body together; and it will be as when a man is wasted by disease.
19And the rest of the trees of his wood will be small in number, so that a child may put them down in writing.
20And it will be in that day that the rest of Israel, and those of Jacob who have come safely through these troubles, will no longer go for help to him whose rod was on their back, but their faith will be in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21The rest, even the rest of Jacob, will come back to the Strong God.
22For though your people, O Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a small number will come back: for the destruction is fixed, overflowing in righteousness.
23For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to make destruction complete in all the land.
24For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, says, O my people living in Zion, have no fear of the Assyrian, even if his rod comes on your back, and his stick is lifted up as in Egypt.
25For in a very short time my passion will be over, and my wrath will be turned to their destruction.
26And the Lord of armies will be shaking a whip against him, as when he overcame Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be lifted up against them as it was against the Egyptians.
27And in that day the weight which he put on your back will be taken away, and his yoke broken from off your neck.
28He has gone up from Pene-Rimmon, he has come to Aiath; he has gone past Migron, at Michmash he puts his forces in order.
29They have gone across the mountain; Geba will be our resting-place tonight, they say: Ramah is shaking with fear; Gibeah of Saul has gone in flight.
30Give a loud cry, daughter of Gallim; let Laishah give ear; let Anathoth give answer to her.
31Madmenah has gone; the men of Gebim are putting their goods in a safe place.
32This very day he is stopping at Nob; he is shaking his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33See, the Lord, the Lord of armies, is cutting off his branches with a great noise, and his strong ones are falling and his high ones are coming down.
34And he is cutting down the thick places of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon with its tall trees is coming down.