Isaiah 8:11-22
The Lord speaks to me while his powerful hand is on me. He is warning me not to live the way these people live. He says,
“People of Judah, do not agree with those who say
Isaiah is guilty of treason.
Do not fear what they fear.
Do not be afraid.
The Lord rules over all.
So you must think about him as holy.
You must have respect for him.
You must fear him.
Then the Lord will be a holy place of safety for you.
But that’s not true for many people in Israel and Judah.
He will be a stone that causes them to trip.
He will be a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem
he will be a trap and a snare.
Many of them will trip.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and captured.”
Tie up and seal this warning that the Lord said to you through me.
Preserve among my followers what he taught you through me.
I will wait for the Lord.
He is turning his face away from Jacob’s people.
I will put my trust in him.
Here I am. Here are the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and reminders to Israel from the Lord who rules over all. He lives on Mount Zion.
The Darkness Turns to Light
There are people who get messages from those who have died. But these people only whisper words that are barely heard. Suppose someone tells you to ask for advice from these people. Shouldn’t you ask for advice from your God instead? Why should you get advice from dead people to help those who are alive? Follow what the Lord taught you and said to you through me. People who don’t speak in keeping with these words will have no hope in the morning. They will suffer and be hungry. They’ll wander through the land. When they are very hungry, they will become angry. They’ll look up toward heaven. They’ll ask for bad things to happen to their king and their God. Then they will look at the earth. They’ll see nothing but suffering and darkness. They’ll see terrible sadness. They’ll be driven into total darkness.
Isaiah 9:1-21
But there won’t be any more sadness for those who were suffering. In the past the Lord brought shame on the land of Zebulun. He also brought shame on the land of Naphtali. But in days to come he will honor Galilee, where people from other nations live. He will honor the land along the Mediterranean Sea. And he will honor the territory east of the Jordan River.
The people who are now living in darkness
will see a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
But a light will shine on them.
Lord, you will make our nation larger.
You will increase their joy.
They will show you how glad they are.
They will be as glad as people are at harvest time.
They will be as glad as warriors are
when they share the things they’ve taken after a battle.
You set Israel free from Midian long ago.
In the same way, you will break
the heavy yoke that weighs Israel down.
You will break the wooden beams that are on their shoulders.
You will break the rods of those who strike them down.
Every fighting man’s boot that he wore in battle will be burned up.
So will every piece of clothing covered with blood.
All of them will be thrown into the fire.
A child will be born to us.
A son will be given to us.
He will rule over us.
And he will be called
Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God.
He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever
and Prince Who Brings Peace.
There will be no limit to how great his authority is.
The peace he brings will never end.
He will rule on David’s throne
and over his kingdom.
He will make the kingdom strong and secure.
His rule will be based on what is fair and right.
It will last forever.
The Lord’s great love will make sure that happens.
He rules over all.
The Lord Is Angry With Israel
The Lord has sent a message against Jacob’s people.
He will punish Israel.
All the people will know about it.
Ephraim’s people and those who live in Samaria will know about it.
Their hearts are very proud.
They say,
“The brick buildings have fallen down.
But we will rebuild them with blocks of stone.
The fig trees have been chopped down.
But we’ll plant cedar trees in place of them.”
In spite of that, the Lord has made Rezin’s enemies stronger.
He has stirred up Assyria to fight against Israel.
Arameans from the east
have opened their mouths and swallowed up Israel.
So have Philistines from the west.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
But his people have not returned
to the God who struck them down.
They haven’t turned for help
to the Lord who rules over all.
So he will cut off from Israel heads and tails alike.
In a single day he will cut off palm branches and tall grass alike.
The palm branches are the people who rule over others.
The tall grass is the people who bow down to them.
The elders and important leaders are the heads.
The prophets who teach lies are the tails.
Those who guide the people of Israel are leading them down the wrong path.
So those who follow them aren’t on the right road.
The Lord will not be pleased with the young men.
He won’t take pity on widows and on children whose fathers have died.
All of them are ungodly and evil.
They say foolish things with their mouths.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
What is evil burns like a fire.
It burns up bushes and thorns.
It sets the forest on fire.
It sends up a huge column of smoke.
The Lord rules over all.
When he gets angry, he will burn up the land.
The people will burn in the fire.
They will not spare one another.
People will eat up everything they can find on their right.
But they’ll still be hungry.
They will eat everything they can find on their left.
But they won’t be satisfied.
So they will eat the dead bodies of their children.
That’s what Manasseh’s people will do to Ephraim.
And that’s what Ephraim’s people will do to Manasseh.
Together they will turn against Judah.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
Isaiah 10:1-19
How terrible it will be for you
who make laws that aren’t fair!
How terrible for you
who write laws that make life hard for others!
You take away the rights of poor people.
You hold back what is fair from my people who are suffering.
You take for yourselves what belongs to widows.
You rob children whose fathers have died.
What will you do on the day when the Lord punishes you?
On that day trouble will come from far away.
Who will you run to for help?
Who will you trust your riches with?
All you can do is bow down in fear among the prisoners.
All you can do is fall among those who have died in battle.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
The Lord Will Judge Assyria
The Lord says, “How terrible it will be for the people of Assyria!
They are the war club that carries out my anger.
I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah.
I will order them to fight against my own people.
My people make me angry.
I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away.
I will order Assyria to walk on my people
as if they were walking on mud.
But that is not what the king of Assyria plans.
It is not what he has in mind.
His purpose is to destroy many nations.
His purpose is to put an end to them.
‘Aren’t all my commanders kings?’ he says.
‘I took over Kalno just as I took Carchemish.
I took over Hamath just as I did Arpad.
I took Samaria just as I did Damascus.
My powerful hand grabbed hold of kingdoms
whose people worship statues of gods.
They had more gods than Jerusalem and Samaria did.
I took over Samaria and its statues of gods.
In the same way, I will take Jerusalem and its gods.’ ”
The Lord will finish everything he has planned to do against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he’ll say, “Now I will punish the king of Assyria. I will punish him because his heart and his eyes are so proud. The king of Assyria says,
“ ‘By my power
I have taken over all these nations.
I am very wise.
I have great understanding.
I have wiped out the borders between nations.
I’ve taken their treasures.
Like a great hero I’ve brought their kings under my control.
I’ve taken the wealth of the nations.
It was as easy as reaching into a bird’s nest.
I’ve gathered the riches of all these countries.
It was as easy as gathering eggs
that have been left in a nest.
Not a single baby bird flapped its wings.
Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.’ ”
Does an ax claim to be more important
than the person who swings it?
Does a saw brag that it is better
than the one who uses it?
That would be like a stick
swinging the person who picks it up!
It would be like a war club
waving the one who carries it!
So the Lord who rules over all will send a sickness.
The Lord will send it on the king of Assyria’s strong fighting men.
It will make them weaker and weaker.
The army he was so proud of will be completely destroyed.
It will be as if it had been burned up in a fire.
The Lord is the Light of Israel.
He will become a fire.
Israel’s Holy One will become a flame.
In a single day he will burn up all Assyria’s bushes.
He will destroy all their thorns.
He will completely destroy the beauty
of their forests and rich farm lands.
The Assyrian army will be like a sick person
who becomes weaker and weaker.
It will be like the trees of their forests.
So few of them will be left standing
that even a child could count them.
