9:1  But there will appear no more gloom for her who felt anguished; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

9:2   The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

9:3  You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will have gladness in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

9:4  For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

9:5  For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will exist for burning, fuel for the fire.

9:6  For a child will become born to us, a son we will receive; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name we will call Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

9:7  There will come no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

9:8  The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.

9:9  And all the people know it, Namely, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:

9:10  "The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have become cut down, But we will replace them with cedars."

9:11  Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on,

9:12  The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand still stretches out.

9:13  Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

9:14  So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

9:15  The head we regard as the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood we will regard as the tail.

9:16   For those who guide this people lead them astray; And those who allow them as guides will fall into confusion.

9:17  Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them acts godlessly and evilly, And every mouth speaks foolishness In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand still stretches out.

9:18   For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

9:19  By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land burns up, And the people resemble fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.

9:20  They slice off what exists on the right hand but still hunger, And they eat what they find on the left hand but they have not had satisfaction; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

9:21  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they fight against Judah In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand still stretches out.