| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. | 1Nevertheless, 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. 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. |
| 2The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. | 2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. |
| 3You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. | 3You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. |
| 4For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. | 4For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. |
| 5For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. | 5For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. |
| 6For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. | 6For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. |
| 7Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. | 7The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. 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. |
| 8The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. | 8The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel. |
| 9All the people will know— Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria— Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: | 9All the people-- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria--will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:" |
| 10“The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.” | 10The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." |
| 11Therefore the LORD shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, | 11The LORD has raised up Rezin's adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies. |
| 12The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. | 12Aram 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. |
| 13For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. | 13The people did not turn to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts. |
| 14Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day. | 14So the LORD cut off Israel's head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day. |
| 15The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. | 15The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the lying teacher. |
| 16For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed. | 16The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up. |
| 17Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. | 17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel's young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike. |
| 18For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke. | 18For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke. |
| 19Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother. | 19The land is scorched by the wrath of the LORD of Hosts, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother. |
| 20And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. | 20They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm. |
| 21Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. | 21Manasseh is with Ephraim, and Ephraim with Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike. |
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