inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.'
16'Bind up the testimony, seal the instruction among My disciples.' 17And I will wait for the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me shall be for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion. 19And when they shall say unto you: 'Seek unto the ghosts and the familiar spirits, that chirp and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living unto the dead 20for instruction and for testimony?'—Surely they will speak according to this word, wherein there is no light.—21And they shall pass this way that are sore bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and, whether they turn their faces upward, 22or look unto the earth, behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and outspread thick darkness. 23For is there no gloom to her that was stedfast? Now the former hath lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but the latter hath dealt a more grievous blow by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in the district of the nations.
9The people that walked in darknessHave seen a great light;They that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,Upon them hath the light shined.2Thou hast multiplied the nation,Thou hast increased their joy;They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest,As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.3For the yoke of his burden,And the staff of his shoulder,The rod of his oppressor,Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.For every boot stamped with fierceness,And every cloak rolled in blood,Shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire.5For a child is born unto us,A son is given unto us;And the government is upon his shoulder;And his name is called4Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom;6That the government may be increased,And of peace there be no end,Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,To establish it, and to uphold itThrough justice and through righteousnessFrom henceforth even for ever.The zeal of the Lord of hosts doth perform this. 7The Lord sent a word into Jacob,And it hath lighted upon Israel.8And all the people shall know,Even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria,That say in pride and in arrogancy of heart:9'The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones;The sycamores are cut down, but cedars will we put in their place.'10Therefore the Lord doth set upon high the adversaries of Rezin against him,And spur his enemies;11The Arameans on the east, and the Philistines on the west;And they devour Israel with open mouth.For all this His anger is not turned away,But His hand is stretched out still. 12Yet the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them,Neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.13Therefore the Lord doth cut off from Israel head and tail,Palm-branch and rush, in one day.14The elder and the man of rank, he is the head;And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.15For they that lead this people cause them to err;And they that are led of them are destroyed.16Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men,Neither shall He have compassion on their fatherless and widows;For every one is ungodly and an evil-doer,And every mouth speaketh wantonness.For all this His anger is not turned away,But His hand is stretched out still. 17 For wickedness burneth as the fire;It devoureth the briers and thorns;Yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest,And they roll upward in thick clouds of smoke.18Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land burnt up;The people also are as the fuel of fire;No man spareth his brother.19And one snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry;And he eateth on the left hand, and is not satisfied;They eat every man the flesh of his own arm:20Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh;And they together are against Judah.For all this His anger is not turned away,But His hand is stretched out still. 10Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,And to the writers that write iniquity;2To turn aside the needy from judgment,And to take away the right of the poor of My people,That widows may be their spoil,And that they may make the fatherless their prey!3And what will ye do in the day of visitation,And in the ruin which shall come from far?To whom will ye flee for help?And where will ye leave your glory?4They can do nought except crouch under the captives,And fall under the slain.For all this His anger is not turned away,But His hand is stretched out still. 5O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger,In whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation!6I do send him against an ungodly nation,And against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge,To take the spoil, and to take the prey,And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.7Howbeit he meaneth not so,Neither doth his heart think so;But it is in his heart to destroy,And to cut off nations not a few.8For he saith: 'Are not my princes all of them kings?9Is not Calno as Carchemish?Is not Hamath as Arpad?Is not Samaria as Damascus?10As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols,Whose graven images did exceed them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;11Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols,So do to Jerusalem and her idols?'
12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. 13For he hath said:
By the strength of my hand I have done it,And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;In that I have removed the bounds of the peoples,And have robbed their treasures,And have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants;14And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples;And as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken,Have I gathered all the earth;And there was none that moved the wing,Or that opened mouth, or chirped. 15Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it?As if a rod should move them that lift it up,Or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.16Therefore will the Lord, the Lord of hosts,Send among his fat ones leanness;And under his glory there shall be kindledA burning like the burning of fire.17And the light of Israel shall be for a fire,And his Holy One for a flame;And it shall burn and devour his thornsAnd his briers in one day.18And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,He will consume both soul and body;And it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away.19And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few,That a child may write them down. 20And it shall come to pass in that day,That the remnant of Israel,And they that are escaped of the house of Jacob,Shall no more again stay upon him that smote them;But shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.215A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob,Unto God the Mighty.22For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,Only a remnant of them shall return;An extermination is determined, overflowing with righteousness.23For an extermination wholly determinedShall the Lord, the God of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.
24Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts: O My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 25For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and Mine anger shall be to their destruction. 26And the Lord of hosts shall stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb; and as His rod was over the sea, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27And it shall come to pass in that day, that
His burden shall depart from off thy shoulder,And his yoke from off thy neck,And the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.28He is come to Aiath,He is passed through Migron;At Michmas he layeth up his baggage;29They are gone over the pass;They have taken up their lodging at Geba;Ramah trembleth;Gibeath-shaul is fled.30Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim!Hearken, O Laish! O thou poor Anathoth!31Madmenah is in mad flight;The inhabitants of Gebim flee to cover.32This very day shall he halt at Nob,Shaking his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion,The hill of Jerusalem. 33Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,Shall lop the boughs with terror;And the high ones of stature shall be hewn down,And
