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Isaiah 9
In days past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in days to come he will confer glory on the Way of the Sea on the far side of Jordan, province of the nations.
1 The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.
2 You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.
3 For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.
4 For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire.
5 For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.
6 Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his royal power, which he establishes and makes secure in justice and integrity. From this time onwards and for ever, the jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will do this.
The vengeance of Yahweh
7 The Lord hurls a word against Jacob, it falls on Israel.
8 All the people of Ephraim and all the inhabitants of Samaria know it. In their pride they have said, speaking in the arrogance of their heart,
9 ‘The bricks have fallen down, then we will build with dressed stone; the sycamores have been cut down, we will put cedars in their place’.
10 But Yahweh is marshalling his people’s enemies against them, he is stirring up their foes:
11 to the east, Aram, to the west, the Philistines devour Israel with gaping jaw. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.
12 But the people have not come back to him who struck them, they have not come looking for Yahweh Sabaoth;
13 hence Yahweh has cut head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in a single day.
14 (The ‘head’ is the elder and the man of rank; the ‘tail’, the prophet with lying vision.)
15 This people’s leaders have taken the wrong turning, and those who are led are lost.
16 And so the Lord will not spare their young men, will have no pity for their orphans and widows. Since the whole people is godless and evil, its speech is madness. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.
17 Yes, wickedness burns like a fire: it consumes briar and thorn, it sets the forest thickets alight and columns of smoke go rolling upwards.
18 The land is set aflame by the wrath of Yahweh Sabaoth and the people are food for the fire. Not one spares his brother,