For, while the first invader has dealt lightly with the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the second has dealt heavily with Galilee of the Nations on the road beyond Jordan to the sea.

   2    ^note The people who walked in darkness
  have seen a great light:
  light has dawned upon them,
    dwellers in a land as dark as death.
3   Thou hast increased their joy and ^note given them great gladness;
they rejoice in thy presence as men rejoice at harvest,
or as they are glad when they share out the spoil;
   4   for thou hast shattered the yoke that burdened them,
    the collar that lay heavy on their shoulders,
  the driver's goad, as on the day of Midian's defeat.
   5   All the boots of trampling soldiers
  and the garments fouled with blood
shall become a burning mass, fuel for fire.
6   For a boy has been born for us, a son given to us
  to bear the symbol of dominion on his shoulder;
    and he shall be called
    in purpose wonderful, in battle God-like,
    Father for all time, ^note Prince of peace.
   7   Great ^note shall the dominion be,
    and boundless the peace
  bestowed on David's throne and on his kingdom,
  to establish it and sustain it
    with justice and righteousness
    from now and for evermore.
  The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this.

Prophecies addressed to Israel

8   The Lord has sent forth his word against Jacob
    and it shall fall on Israel;
   9   all the people shall be humbled,

Prophecies addressed to Israel
    Ephraim and the dwellers in Samaria,
  though in their pride and arrogance they say,
10   The bricks are fallen, but we will build in hewn stone;
  the sycomores are hacked down,
  but we will use cedars instead.
11   The Lord has raised their foes ^note high against them
    and spurred on their enemies,
12   Aramaeans from the east and Philistines from the west,
  and they have swallowed Israel in one mouthful.
  For all this his anger has not turned back,
  and his hand is stretched out still.
   13   Yet the people did not come back to him who struck them,
    or seek guidance of the Lord of Hosts;
14   therefore on one day the Lord cut off from Israel
head and tail, palm and reed. ^note
16   This people's guides have led them astray;
    those who should have been guided are in confusion.
17   Therefore the Lord showed no mercy to their young men,
  no tenderness to their orphans and widows;
  all were godless and evildoers,
  every one speaking profanity.
  For all this his anger has not turned back,
  and his hand is stretched out still.


   18   Wicked men have been set ablaze like a fire
  fed with briars and thorns,
    kindled in the forest thickets;
    they are wrapped in a murky pall of smoke.
19   The land is scorched by the fury of the Lord of Hosts,
  and the people have become fuel for the fire. ^note
   20   On the right, one man eats his fill but yet is hungry;
  on the left, another devours but is not satisfied;
  each feeds on his own children's flesh,
  and neither spares his own brother. ^note
   21    ^note For all this his anger has not turned back,
  and his hand is stretched out still.

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