Isaiah 8:11-9:7

English Standard Version

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(A)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹²“Do not call ^(B)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(C)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³But the Lord of hosts, ^(D)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴And he will become a ^(E)sanctuary and ^(F)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵And many ^(G)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶Bind up ^(H)the testimony; ^(I)seal the teaching^[a] among my disciples. ¹⁷I will ^(J)wait for the Lord, who is ^(K)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸^(L)Behold, I and ^(M)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(N)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(O)the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰^(P)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(Q)dawn. ²¹They will pass through the land,^[b] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[c] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ²²^(R)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(S)thick darkness.

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[d] But there will be no ^(T)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(U)brought into contempt the land of ^(V)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(W)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[e]

²^[f] ^(X)The people ^(Y)who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ^(Z)deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
³^(AA)You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with ^(AB)joy at the harvest,
    as they ^(AC)are glad ^(AD)when they divide the spoil.
⁴^(AE)For the yoke of his burden,
    ^(AF)and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as ^(AG)on the day of Midian.
⁵^(AH)For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶^(AI)For to us a child is born,
    to us ^(AJ)a son is given;
^(AK)and the government shall be ^(AL)upon^[g] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called^[h]
Wonderful ^(AM)Counselor, ^(AN)Mighty God,
    ^(AO)Everlasting ^(AP)Father, Prince of ^(AQ)Peace.
⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace
    ^(AR)there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
^(AS)with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
^(AT)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.