But there will be no more agloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He btreated the cland of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 aThe people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in the land of the shadow of death,
The light will shine on them.
3 aYou shall multiply the nation,
You bshall make great their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As cmen rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For aYou shall shatter the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their btaskmaster, as at the battle of cMidian.
5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the rumbling of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For a achild will be born to us, a bson will be given to us;
And the cgovernment will rest don His shoulders;
And His name will be called eWonderful Counselor, fMighty God,
Eternal gFather, Prince of hPeace.
7 There will be ano end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the bthrone of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with cjustice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
dThe zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this.
Yahweh’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, aEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Saying in lofty pride and in barrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will arebuild with cut stones;
The sycamores have been cut in pieces,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore Yahweh exalts against them adversaries from aRezin
And incites their enemies,
12 The Arameans on the east and the aPhilistines on the west;
And they bdevour Israel with gaping jaws.
cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people ado not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they bseek Yahweh of hosts.
14 So Yahweh cuts off ahead and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush bin a single day.
15 The head is athe elder and the highly respected man,
And the prophet who teaches bfalsehood is the tail.
16 aFor those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord ais not glad in their choice men,
bNor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is cgodless and an devildoer,
And every emouth is speaking wicked foolishness.
fIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
18 aFor wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame,
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the afury of Yahweh of hosts the bland is burned up,
And the cpeople are like fuel for the fire;
No dman spares his brother.
20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are ahungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the bflesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
aAnd together they are against Judah.
bIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
Woe to those who aenact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record mischief,
2 So as ato turn the poor away from their cause
And rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,
So bthat widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.
3 Now awhat will you do in the bday of visitation,
And in the devastation which will come cfrom afar?
dTo whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the acaptives
Or fall among those bkilled.
cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back
And His hand is still stretched out.
Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance
5 Woe to aAssyria, the brod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is cMy indignation,
6 I send it against a agodless nation
And command it against the bpeople of My fury
To capture spoil and cto seize plunder,
And to trample them down like dmud in the streets.
7 But it adoes not intend to act in this way,
And it does not think in its heart in this way,
Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes all kings?
9 Is not aCalno like bCarchemish,
Or cHamath like Arpad,
Or dSamaria like eDamascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the akingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and aher idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His awork on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and bthe pomp of his eyes which are raised high.” 13 For ahe has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I bremoved the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a anest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
15 Is the aaxe to bboast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like ca rod wielding those who lift it,
Or like ca staff lifting him who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a awasting disease among his bstout warriors;
And under his cglory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the alight of Israel will become a fire and his bHoly One a flame,
And it will cburn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will abring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the arest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
A Remnant Will Return
20 Now it will be in that day, that the aremnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob bwho have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly crely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
21 A aremnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the bmighty God.
22 For athough your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A bdestructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, aLord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.
24 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit aZion, bdo not fear the Assyrian who cstrikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. 25 For in a very alittle while bMy indignation against you will end and My anger will be directed to their destruction.” 26 And Yahweh of hosts will awaken a scourge against him like the slaughter of bMidian at the rock of Oreb; and His cstaff will be over the sea and He will lift it up dthe way He did in Egypt. 27 So it will be in that day, that his aburden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because bof fatness.
28 He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through aMigron;
At bMichmash he deposited his cbaggage.
29 They have gone through athe pass, saying,
“bGeba will be our lodging place.”
cRamah trembles, and dGibeah of Saul has fled away.
30 Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of aGallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and afflicted bAnathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Yet today he will stand at aNob;
He bshakes his fist at the mountain of the cdaughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;
Those also who are ahigh in stature will be cut in pieces
And those who are lofty will be made low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And aLebanon will fall by the Mighty One.