Isaiah 8:4-10:5
English Standard Version
4 (A)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the (B)wealth of (C)Damascus and the spoil of (D)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of (E)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over (F)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them (G)the waters of (H)the River,[a] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it (I)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, (J)reaching even to the neck, and its (K)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, (L)O Immanuel.”
9 Be broken,[b] you peoples, and (M)be shattered;[c]
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, (N)but it will not stand,
for God (O)is with us.[d]
Fear God, Wait for the Lord
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and (P)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call (Q)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and (R)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, (S)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a (T)sanctuary and (U)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many (V)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up (W)the testimony; (X)seal the teaching[e] among my disciples. 17 I will (Y)wait for the Lord, who is (Z)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 (AA)Behold, I and (AB)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the (AC)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of (AD)the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (AE)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no (AF)dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,[f] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against[g] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 (AG)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into (AH)thick darkness.
For to Us a Child Is Born
9 [h] But there will be no (AI)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he (AJ)brought into contempt the land of (AK)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he (AL)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.[i]
2 [j] (AM)The people (AN)who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of (AO)deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 (AP)You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with (AQ)joy at the harvest,
as they (AR)are glad (AS)when they divide the spoil.
4 (AT)For the yoke of his burden,
(AU)and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as (AV)on the day of Midian.
5 (AW)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 (AX)For to us a child is born,
to us (AY)a son is given;
(AZ)and the government shall be (BA)upon[k] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called[l]
Wonderful (BB)Counselor, (BC)Mighty God,
(BD)Everlasting (BE)Father, Prince of (BF)Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
(BG)there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
(BH)with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
(BI)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
(BJ)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 (BK)The Syrians on the east and (BL)the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
(BM)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people (BN)did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel (BO)head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 (BP)the elder and honored man is the head,
and (BQ)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not (BR)rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is (BS)godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks (BT)folly.[m]
(BU)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like (BV)a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and (BW)the people are like fuel for the fire;
(BX)no one spares another.
20 (BY)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
(BZ)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are (CA)against Judah.
(CB)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe to those who (CC)decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who (CD)keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and (CE)to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on (CF)the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come (CG)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
(CH)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, (CI)the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:7 That is, the Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:9 Or Be evil
- Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
- Isaiah 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel
- Isaiah 8:16 Or law; also verse 20
- Isaiah 8:21 Hebrew it
- Isaiah 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by
- Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
- Isaiah 9:1 Or of the Gentiles
- Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
- Isaiah 9:6 Or is upon
- Isaiah 9:6 Or is called
- Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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