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9. To Us a Child Is Born

¹ In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-21 is numbered 9:1-20.Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

    ² The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
   and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
   as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
   when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
   you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
   the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor.
⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
   and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
   will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

The LORD’s Anger Against Israel

    ⁸ The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;
   it will fall on Israel.
⁹ All the people will know it—
   Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
who say with pride
   and arrogance of heart,
¹⁰ “The bricks have fallen down,
   but we will rebuild with dressed stone;
the fig trees have been felled,
   but we will replace them with cedars.”
¹¹ But the LORD has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them
   and has spurred their enemies on.
¹² Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
   have devoured Israel with open mouth.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.

    ¹³ But the people have not returned to him who struck them,
   nor have they sought the LORD Almighty.
¹⁴ So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
   both palm branch and reed in a single day;
¹⁵ the elders and dignitaries are the head,
   the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
¹⁶ Those who guide this people mislead them,
   and those who are guided are led astray.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,
   nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly and wicked,
   every mouth speaks folly.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.

    ¹⁸ Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
   it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
   so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ By the wrath of the LORD Almighty
   the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
   they will not spare one another.
²⁰ On the right they will devour,
   but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
   but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring Or arm:
    ²¹ Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
   together they will turn against Judah.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.

5. For every battle. Here commentators are nearly agreed that Isaiah intended to contrast the victory which God was about to give to his people with other victories. Others conquer by making a great slaughter of the enemies, but here the Lord will conquer by his own hand alone. He expresses more fully what he had said, As in the day of Midian. (Verse 4.) The Lord therefore, he says, will not employ the agency of a great multitude, but will achieve a victory for himself from heaven. When the Lord acts by himself, every covering is removed, and we perceive more clearly that he is the Author of our life and salvation.

Now, since there is a contrast which expresses the difference between the ordinary mode of warfare and the miracle of redemption, the copulative ו, (vau,) in the middle of the verse, ought to be rendered but; as if he had said, that it is usually amidst the confusion of the battle that enemies are hewn down: but God will act in a very different manner; for he will destroy the enemies of the Church, as if he sent down lightning from heaven, or suddenly struck them by thunderbolts. It may perhaps be thought better to adopt the opinion of those who explain the second clause as a continuation of the first, that all warriors will be with trembling and with burning fire. But the former meaning is more appropriate, and is likewise supported by the words of the Prophet. Hence it is evident that the present subject is not merely the deliverance which the people obtained from Cyrus, permitting them to return to their native country, but that these words must be viewed as extending to the kingdom of Christ.