Isaiah 9–12: A Child Is Born, the Rod of Assyria, and the Shoot from the Stump
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:
The people walking in darknesshave seen a great light;on those living in the land of the shadow of death,a light has dawned.You have enlarged the nationand increased its joy.The people rejoice before youas they rejoice at harvest time,as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midianyou have shattered the yoke of their burden,the bar across their shoulders,and the rod of their oppressor.For every trampling boot of battleand every garment rolled in bloodwill be burned as fuel for the fire.
For unto us a child is born,unto us a son is given,and the government will be upon his shoulders.And he will be calledWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Of the increase of his government and peacethere will be no end.He will reign on the throne of Davidand over his kingdom,to establish and sustain itwith justice and righteousnessfrom that time and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
The Lord has sent a message against Jacob,and it has fallen upon Israel.All the people will know it—Ephraim and the dwellers of Samaria.With pride and arrogance of heartthey will say:“The bricks have fallen,but we will rebuild with finished stone;the sycamores have been felled,but we will replace them with cedars.”
The LORD has raised up the foes of Rezin against himand joined his enemies together.Aram from the east and Philistia from the westhave devoured Israel with open mouths.
Despite all this, his anger is not turned away;his hand is still upraised.
But the people did not return to him who struck them;they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail,both palm branch and reed in a single day.The head is the elder and honorable man,and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.For those who guide this people mislead them,and those they mislead are swallowed up.
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men;he has no compassion on their fatherless and widows.For every one of them is godless and wicked,and every mouth speaks folly.
Despite all this, his anger is not turned away;his hand is still upraised.
For wickedness burns like a firethat consumes the thorns and briersand kindles the forest thicketswhich roll upward in billows of smoke.By the wrath of the LORD of Hoststhe land is scorched,and the people are fuel for the fire.No man even spares his brother.
They carve out what is on the right,but they are still hungry;they eat what is on the left,but they are still not satisfied.Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.Manasseh devours Ephraim,and Ephraim Manasseh;together they turn against Judah.
Despite all this, his anger is not turned away;his hand is still upraised.Woe to those who enact unjust statutesand issue oppressive decrees,to deprive the poor of fair treatmentand withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,to make widows their preyand orphans their plunder.
What will you do on the day of reckoningwhen devastation comes from afar?To whom will you flee for help?Where will you leave your wealth?Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captivesor fall among the slain.
Despite all this, his anger is not turned away;his hand is still upraised.
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 dispatch him against a people destined for my rage,to take spoils and seize plunder,and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
But this is not his intention;this is not his plan.For it is in his heart to destroyand cut off many nations.“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.“Is not Calno like Carchemish?Is not Hamath like Arpad?Is not Samaria like Damascus?As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdomswhose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,and as I have done to Samaria and its idols,will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
So when the Lord has completed all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. For he says:
‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,and by my wisdom, for I am clever.I have removed the boundaries of nationsand plundered their treasures;like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.My hand reached as into a nestto seize the wealth of the nations.Like one gathering abandoned eggs,I gathered all the earth.No wing fluttered,no beak opened or chirped.’ ”
Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it?Does a saw boast over him who saws with it?It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it,or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting diseaseamong Assyria’s stout warriors,and under his pomp will be kindleda fire like a burning flame.And the Light of Israel will become a fire,and its Holy One a flame.In a single day it will burn and devourAssyria’s thorns and thistles.The splendor of its forests and orchards,both soul and body,it will completely destroy,as a sickness consumes a man.The remaining trees of its forests will be so fewthat a child could count them.
On that day the remnant of Israeland the survivors of the house of Jacobwill no longer dependon him who struck them,but they will truly rely on the LORD,the Holy One of Israel.
A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea,only a remnant will return.Destruction has been decreed,overflowing with righteousness.For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry outthe destruction decreed upon the whole land.
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says:
“O my people who dwell in Zion,do not fear Assyria,who strikes you with a rodand lifts his staff against youas the Egyptians did.For in just a little whilemy fury against you will subside,and my anger will turn to their destruction.”
And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them,as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.He will raise his staff over the sea,as he did in Egypt.On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders,and the yoke from your neck.The yoke will be brokenbecause your neck will be too large.
Assyria has entered Aiathand passed through Migron,storing their supplies at Michmash.They have crossed at the ford:“We will spend the night at Geba.”Ramah trembles;Gibeah of Saul flees.Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim!Listen, O Laishah!O wretched Anathoth!Madmenah flees;the people of Gebim take refuge.Yet today they will halt at Nob,shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion,at the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hostswill lop off the branches with terrifying power.The tall trees will be cut down,the lofty ones will be felled.He will clear the forest thickets with an axe,and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse,and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and strength,the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.And he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what his eyes see,and he will not decide by what his ears hear,but with righteousness he will judge the poor,and with equity he will decide for the lowly of the earth.He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouthand slay the wicked with the breath of his lips.Righteousness will be the belt around his hips,and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb,and the leopard will lie down with the goat;the calf and young lion and fatling will be together,and a little child will lead them.The cow will graze with the bear,their young will lie down together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox.The infant will play by the cobra’s den,and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.They will neither harm nor destroyon all my holy mountain,for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORDas the sea is full of water.
On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek him, and his place of rest will be glorious. On that day the Lord will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
He will raise a banner for the nationsand gather the exiles of Israel;he will collect the scattered of Judahfrom the four corners of the earth.Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,and the adversaries of Judah will be cut off.Ephraim will no longer envy Judah,nor will Judah harass Ephraim.
They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west;together they will plunder the sons of the east.They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab,and the Ammonites will be subject to them.The LORD will devote to destructionthe gulf of the Sea of Egypt;with a scorching wind he will sweep his handover the Euphrates.He will split it into seven streamsfor men to cross with dry sandals.There will be a highway for the remnant of his peoplewho remain from Assyria,as there was for Israelwhen they came up from the land of Egypt.
In that day you will say:
“O LORD, I will praise you.Although you were angry with me,your anger has turned away,and you have comforted me.Surely God is my salvation;I will trust and not be afraid.For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,and he also has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, and on that day you will say:
“Give praise to the LORD;proclaim his name!Make his works known among the peoples;declare that his name is exalted.Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things.Let this be known in all the earth.Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion,for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”