9Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.H4155H4164H6256H7223H7043H776H2074H776H5321H314H3513H1870H3220H5676H3383H1551H14712 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.H5971H1980H2822H7200H1419H216H3427H776H6757H216H50503You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder.H7235H1471H1431H8057H8055H6440H8057H7105H1523H2505H79984For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.H2865H5923H5448H4294H7926H7626H5065H3117H40805The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.H5430H5431H7494H8071H1556H1818H8316H3980H7846For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.H3206H3205H1121H5414H4951H7926H8034H7121H6382H3289H1368H410H5703H1H8269H79657His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!H4766H4951H7965H7093H3678H1732H4467H3559H5582H4941H6666H5704H5769H7068H3068H6635H6213
The Lord’s Anger against Israel
8The Lord has spoken out against Jacob; his judgment has fallen upon Israel.H136H7971H1697H3290H5307H34789And the people of Israel and Samaria, who spoke with such pride and arrogance, will soon know it.H5971H3045H669H3427H8111H559H1346H1433H382410They said, “We will replace the broken bricks of our ruins with finished stone, and replant the felled sycamore-fig trees with cedars.”H3843H5307H1129H1496H8256H1438H2498H73011But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel and stir up all their foes.H3068H7682H6862H7526H5526H341H552612The Syrians from the east and the Philistines from the west will bare their fangs and devour Israel. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.H758H6924H6430H268H398H3478H6310H639H7725H3027H518613For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent. They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H5971H7725H5221H1875H3068H663514Therefore, in a single day the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.H3068H3772H3478H7218H2180H3712H100H259H311715The leaders of Israel are the head, and the lying prophets are the tail.H2205H6440H5375H1931H7218H5030H3384H8267H218016For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.H833H5971H8582H833H110417That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans. For they are all wicked hypocrites, and they all speak foolishness. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.H136H8055H970H7355H3490H490H2611H7489H6310H1696H5039H639H7725H3027H518618This wickedness is like a brushfire. It burns not only briers and thorns but also sets the forests ablaze. Its burning sends up clouds of smoke.H7564H1197H784H398H8068H7898H3341H5442H3293H55H1348H622719The land will be blackened by the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people will be fuel for the fire, and no one will spare even his own brother.H5678H3068H6635H776H6272H5971H3980H784H376H2550H25120They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.H1504H3225H7457H398H8040H7646H398H376H1320H222021Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, Ephraim will feed on Manasseh, and both will devour Judah. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.H4519H669H669H4519H3162H3063H639H7725H3027H5186
10What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.H1945H2710H205H2711H3789H5999H37892They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans.H5186H1800H1779H1497H4941H6041H5971H490H7998H962H34903What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe?H6213H3117H6486H7722H935H4801H5127H5833H5800H35194You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.H1115H3766H616H5307H2026H639H7725H3027H5186
Judgment against Assyria
5“What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.H1945H804H7626H639H4294H3027H21956I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.H7971H2611H1471H5971H5678H6680H7997H7998H962H957H7760H4823H2563H23517But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool; his mind does not work that way. His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation.H1819H3824H2803H3824H8045H3772H1471H45928He will say, ‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.H559H8269H3162H44289We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath fell before us as Arpad did. And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.H3641H3751H2574H774H8111H183410Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.H3027H4672H4467H457H6456H3389H811111So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”H6213H8111H457H6213H3389H609112After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant.H136H1214H4639H2022H6726H3389H6485H6529H1433H3824H4428H804H8597H7312H586913He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull.H559H3581H3027H6213H2451H995H5493H1367H5971H8154H6259H6264H3381H3427H47H352414I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”H3027H4672H7064H2428H5971H622H1000H5800H622H776H5074H3671H6475H6310H685015But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?H1631H6286H2672H4883H1431H5130H7626H5130H7311H4294H7311H608616Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.H113H136H3068H6635H7971H4924H7332H3519H3344H3350H78417The Lord, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night.H216H3478H784H6918H3852H1197H398H7898H8068H259H311718The Lord will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague.H3615H3519H3293H3759H5315H1320H5263H454919Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive—so few that a child could count them!H7605H6086H3293H4557H5288H3789
Hope for the Lord’s People
20In that day the remnant left in Israel, the survivors in the house of Jacob, will no longer depend on allies who seek to destroy them. But they will faithfully trust the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.H3117H7605H3478H6413H1004H3290H3254H8172H5221H8172H3068H6918H3478H57121A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.H7605H7725H7605H3290H1368H41022But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.H5971H3478H2344H3220H7605H7725H3631H2782H7857H666623Yes, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, has already decided to destroy the entire land.H136H3069H6635H6213H3617H2782H7130H77624So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago.H559H136H3069H6635H5971H3427H6726H3372H804H5221H7626H5375H4294H1870H471425In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.”H4213H4592H2195H3615H639H839926The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.H3068H6635H5782H7752H4347H4080H6697H6159H4294H3220H5375H1870H471427In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.H3117H5448H5493H7926H5923H6677H5923H2254H6440H808128Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath. They are passing through Migron and are storing their equipment at Micmash.H935H5857H5674H4051H4363H6485H362729They are crossing the pass and are camping at Geba. Fear strikes the town of Ramah. All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, are running for their lives.H5674H4569H4411H1387H7414H2729H1390H7586H512730Scream in terror, you people of Gallim! Shout out a warning to Laishah. Oh, poor Anathoth!H6670H6963H1323H1530H1554H7181H3919H6041H606831There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing. The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.H4088H5074H3427H1374H575632The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day. He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.H5975H5011H3117H5130H3027H2022H1323H1004H6726H1389H338933But look! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! He will cut down the proud. That lofty tree will be brought down.H113H3068H6635H5586H6288H4637H7311H6967H1438H1364H821334He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.H5362H5442H3293H1270H3844H5307H117
A Branch from David’s Line
11Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.H3318H2415H1503H3448H5342H6509H83282And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.H7307H3068H5117H7307H2451H998H7307H6098H1369H7307H1847H3374H30683He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.H7306H3374H3068H8199H4758H5869H3198H4926H2414He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.H6664H8199H1800H3198H4334H6035H776H5221H776H7626H6310H7307H8193H4191H75635He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.H6664H232H4975H530H232H25046In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.H2061H1481H3532H5246H7257H1423H5695H3715H4806H3162H6996H5288H50907The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow.H6510H1677H7462H3206H7257H3162H738H398H8401H12418The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.H3243H8173H2352H6620H1580H1911H3027H6848H39759Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.H7489H7843H6944H2022H776H4390H1844H3068H4325H3680H322010In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.H3117H8328H3448H5975H5251H5971H1471H1875H4496H351911In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people—those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.H3117H136H3254H3027H3254H8145H7069H7605H5971H7604H804H4714H6624H3568H5867H8152H2574H339H322012He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.H5375H5251H1471H622H1760H3478H6908H5310H3063H702H3671H77613Then at last the jealousy between Israel and Judah will end. They will not be rivals anymore.H7068H669H5493H6887H3063H3772H669H7065H3063H3063H6887H66914They will join forces to swoop down on Philistia to the west. Together they will attack and plunder the nations to the east. They will occupy the lands of Edom and Moab, and Ammon will obey them.H5774H3802H6430H3220H962H1121H6924H3162H4916H3027H123H4124H1121H5983H492815The Lord will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea. He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River, sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams so it can easily be crossed on foot.H3068H2763H3956H4714H3220H5868H7307H5130H3027H5104H5221H7651H5158H1869H527516He will make a highway for the remnant of his people, the remnant coming from Assyria, just as he did for Israel long ago when they returned from Egypt.H4546H7605H5971H834H7604H804H3478H3117H5927H776H4714
Songs of Praise for Salvation
12In that day you will sing. “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now you comfort me.H3117H559H3068H3034H599H639H7725H51622See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”H410H3444H982H6342H3050H3068H5797H2176H34443With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!H8342H7579H4325H4599H34444In that wonderful day you will sing. “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!H3117H559H3034H3068H7121H8034H3045H5949H5971H2142H8034H76825Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world.H2167H3068H6213H1348H3045H3045H7766Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”H6670H7442H3427H6726H1419H6918H3478H7130
111Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.H1984H3050H3034H3068H3824H5475H3477H57122How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them.H4639H3068H1419H1875H26563Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails.H6467H1935H1926H6666H5975H57034He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord!H6213H6381H2143H3068H2587H73495He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant.H5414H2964H3373H5769H2142H12856He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations.H5046H5971H3581H4639H5414H5159H14717All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.H4639H3027H571H4941H6490H5398They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.H5564H5703H5769H6213H571H34779He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!H7971H6304H5971H6680H1285H5769H6918H3372H803410Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!H3374H3068H7225H2451H2896H7922H6213H8416H5975H5703
Unknown
Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.H4155
