Study Desk

^[a]Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.^(a) But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

^[b]The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;^(b) a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.^(c)

You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy.^[c](d) The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.^(e)

For You have shattered their oppressive yoke^(f) and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian.^(g)

For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,^(h) and the government will be on His shoulders.⁽ⁱ⁾ He will be named Wonderful Counselor,^(j) Mighty God,^(k) Eternal Father,^(l) Prince of Peace.^(m)

The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end.⁽ⁿ⁾ He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.^(o)

The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel.

All the people— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria^(p)—will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:

"The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."

The Lord has raised up Rezin's adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies.

Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have consumed Israel with open mouths. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.^(q)

The people did not turn to Him who struck them; they did not seek the Lord of Hosts.

So the Lord cut off Israel's head and tail,^(r) palm branch and reed in a single day.

The head is the elder, the honored one;^(s) the tail is the prophet, the lying teacher.^(t)

The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.^[d]

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over^[e] Israel's young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer,^(u) and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.

For wickedness burns like a fire^(v) that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke.

The land is scorched by the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and the people are like fuel for the fire.^(w) No one has compassion on his brother.^(x)

They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry;^(y) they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.^(z)

Manasseh is with Ephraim, and Ephraim with Manasseh; together, both are against Judah.^(aa) In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.^(ab)

Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws

to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless.

What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger— the staff in their hands is My wrath.

I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him to go against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay^(a) in the streets.

But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations.

For he says, "Aren't all my commanders kings?

Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria^(b) like Damascus?^[a]

As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

and as I did to Samaria and its idols will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?"

But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I^[b] will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes."

For he said: I have done this by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.^[c]

My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped.

Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts^[d] it! It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn't wood!

Therefore the Lord God of Hosts will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and He will kindle a burning fire under its glory.

Israel's Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria's thorns and thistles.

He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person.

The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them.

On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord , the Holy One of Israel.^(c)

The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return.^(d) Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows.

For throughout the land the Lord God of Hosts is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.

Therefore, the Lord God of Hosts says this: "My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did.

In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction."

And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as He did when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;^(e) and He will raise His staff over the sea as He did in Egypt.

On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of fatness.^[e]

Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing his equipment at Michmash.

They crossed over at the ford, saying, "We will spend the night at Geba." The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.

Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable.

Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

Today he will stand at Nob, shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

Look, the Lord God of Hosts will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled.

He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,^(a) and a branch^(b) from his roots will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him^(c)— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord .

His delight will be in the fear of the Lord . He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes,^(d) He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears,

but He will judge the poor righteously^(e) and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with discipline^[a] from His mouth,^(f) and He will kill the wicked^(g) with a command^[b] from His lips.^(h)

Righteousness will be a belt around His loins;⁽ⁱ⁾ faithfulness will be a belt around His waist.^(j)

The wolf will live with the lamb,^(k) and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them.

The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

An infant will play beside the cobra's pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake's den.

None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water.^(l)

On that day the root of Jesse^(m) will stand as a banner for the peoples.⁽ⁿ⁾ The nations will seek Him,^(o) and His resting place will be glorious.^(p)

On that day^(q) the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover—from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and islands of the west—the remnant of His people who survive.^(r)

He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel;^(s) He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.^(t)

Ephraim's envy will cease;^(u) Judah's harassment will end. Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim.

But they will swoop down on the Philistine flank to the west. Together they will plunder the people of the east.^(v) They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects.^(w)

The Lord will divide^[c][d] the Gulf of Suez.^[e] He will wave His hand over the Euphrates with His mighty wind^(x) and will split it into seven streams, letting people walk through on foot.

There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will survive from Assyria,^(y) as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.^(z)

On that day you will say: "I will praise You, Lord , although You were angry with me. Your anger has turned away, and You have had compassion^(a) on me.

Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust Him and not be afraid, for Yah, the Lord , is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation."^(b)

You will joyfully draw water^(c) from the springs of salvation,

and on that day you will say: "Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim His name! Celebrate His works among the peoples.^(d) Declare that His name is exalted.

Sing to Yahweh, for He has done glorious things.^(e) Let this be known throughout the earth.

Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel^(f) is among you in His greatness."