1But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land 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.

2The people who walk in darkness
         Will see a great light;
         Those who live in a dark land,
         The light will shine on them.

3You shall multiply the nation,
         You shall increase their gladness;
         They will be glad in Your presence
         As with the gladness of harvest,
         As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
         The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

5For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
         And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
         And the government will rest on His shoulders;
         And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
         Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
         On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
         To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
         From then on and forevermore.
         The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

8The Lord sends a message against Jacob,
         And it falls on Israel.

9And all the people know it,
         That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
         Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:

10“The bricks have fallen down,
         But we will rebuild with smooth stones;
         The sycamores have been cut down,
         But we will replace them with cedars.”

11Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin
         And spurs their enemies on,

12The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
         And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
         In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
         And His hand is still stretched out.

13Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them,
         Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

14So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel,
         Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

15The head is the elder and honorable man,
         And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

16For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
         And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

17Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men,
         Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows;
         For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
         And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
         In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
         And His hand is still stretched out.

18For 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.

19By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up,
         And the people are like fuel for the fire;
         No man spares his brother.

20They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry,
         And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
         Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
         And together they are against Judah.
         In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
         And His hand is still stretched out.

NASB ©1995