Isaiah 9
9
IX
1But yet there shall not always be darkness to that land wherein is now distress:
As in the former time be made no account of
The land of Zabulon and the land of Naphtali;
So in the latter time he hath exalted
The way of the sea beyond Jordan, the Galilee of the nations.
2The people that walked in darkness,
Have seen a great light;
They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them hath the light shined.
3Thou hast multiplied the nation,
Thou hast increased their joy:
They joy before thee as with the joy of harvest;
As they rejoice, who divide the spoil.
4For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor, hast thou broken, as in the day of Midian.
5For every greave of the warrior accoutred for battle,
And the garment rolled in blood,
Shall be for burning, as fuel for the 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 shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
Mighty God, Father of eternity, Prince of peace.
7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom;
To establish it, and to support it,
With judgment and with justice, henceforth and for ever:
The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will do this.
8The Lord hath sent a word unto Jacob;
And it hath lighted upon Israel:
9And all the people shall know,
Even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria;
Who in the pride and arrogancy of heart do say:
10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stone;
The sycamores are cut down, but we will substitute cedars.
11Therefore shall Jehovah set up the adversaries of Rezin against him,
And shall arm his enemies;
12Syria from before, and the Philistines from behind;
And they shall devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger is not turned away;
But his hand is still stretched out.
13For the people have not turned unto him who smote them;
And Jehovah of hosts have they not sought.
14Therefore shall Jehovah cut off from Israel head and tail;
Branch and rush in one day.
15The aged and honourable, they are the head;
And the prophet that teacheth falsehood, he is the tail.
16For the leaders of this people lead them astray,
And they that are led by them shall be devoured.
17Wherefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men,
Neither on their orphans, and on their widows, shall
he have compassion.
For every one of them is ungodly and an evil-doer:
And every mouth speaketh folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away;
But his hand is still stretched out.
18For wickedness burneth like a fire;
Brier and thorn it shall consume:
And it setteth on fire the thickets of the forest,
And they shall mount up in volumes of rising smoke.
19Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land darkened;
And the people are as the fuel of the fire;
No man spareth his brother:
20For he snatcheth on the right hand, yet is be hungry;
And devoureth on the left, yet is he not satisfied;
Each man devoureth the flesh of his own arm:
21Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
And they both are united together against Judah.
For all this his anger is not turned away;
But his hand is still stretched out.
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Isaiah 9: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 9
9
A Child Has Been Born—for Us!
1But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious—the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and clubs and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
God Answered Fire with Fire
8-10The Master sent a message against Jacob.
It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.
All the people soon heard the message,
Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.
But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.
They dismissed the message, saying,
“Things aren’t that bad.
We can handle anything that comes.
If our buildings are knocked down,
we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.
If our forests are cut down,
we’ll replant them with finer trees.”
11-12So God incited their adversaries against them,
stirred up their enemies to attack:
From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.
They made hash of Israel.
But even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
13-17But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,
didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed, both on the same day.
The bigheaded elders were the head,
the lying prophets were the tail.
Those who were supposed to lead this people
led them down blind alleys,
And those who followed the leaders
ended up lost and confused.
That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,
had no feeling for their orphans and widows.
All of them were godless and evil,
talking filth and folly.
And even after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
18-21Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,
the kind that burns everything in its path—
Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—
filling the skies with smoke.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,
set the whole country on fire,
Turned the people into consuming fires,
consuming one another in their lusts—
Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging
themselves left and right with people and things.
But still they starved. Not even their children
were safe from their greedy hunger.
Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and then the two ganged up against Judah.
And after that, he was still angry,
his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
* * *
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.