^w“‘It shall not stand,

and it shall not come to pass.

8  For the head of Syria is ^xDamascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

And within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

9  And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is ^ythe son of Remaliah.

^zIf you⁵ are not firm in faith,

you will not be firm at all.’”

9  Be broken,¹⁵ you peoples, and ^kbe shattered;¹⁶

give ear, all you far countries;

strap on your armor and be shattered;

strap on your armor and be shattered.

10  Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

speak a word, ^lbut it will not stand,

for God ^mis with us.¹⁷

2  ^{23 i}The people ^kwho walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of ^ldeep darkness,

on them has light shone.

3  ^mYou have multiplied the nation;

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with ⁿjoy at the harvest,

as they ^oare glad ^pwhen they divide the spoil.

4  ^qFor the yoke of his burden,

^rand the staff for his shoulder,

the rod of his oppressor,

you have broken as ^son the day of Midian.

5  ^tFor every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult

and every garment rolled in blood

will be burned as fuel for the fire.

6  ^uFor to us a child is born,

to us ^va son is given;

^wand the government shall be ^xupon²⁴ his shoulder,

and his name shall be called²⁵

Wonderful ^yCounselor, ^zMighty God,

^aEverlasting ^bFather, Prince of ^cPeace.

7  Of the increase of his government and of peace

^dthere will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

^ewith justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

^fThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

8  The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,

and it will fall on Israel;

9  and all the people will know,

^gEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:

10  “The bricks have fallen,

but we will build with dressed stones;

the sycamores have been cut down,

but we will put cedars in their place.”

11  But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,

and stirs up his enemies.

12  ^hThe Syrians on the east and ⁱthe Philistines on the west

devour Israel with open mouth.

^jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

13  The people ^kdid not turn to him who struck them,

nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.

14  So the Lord cut off from Israel ^lhead and tail,

palm branch and reed in one day—

15  ^mthe elder and honored man is the head,

and ⁿthe prophet who teaches lies is the tail;

16  for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,

and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

17  Therefore the Lord does not ^orejoice over their young men,

and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;

for everyone is ^pgodless and an evildoer,

and every mouth speaks ^qfolly.²⁶

^jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

18  For wickedness burns like ^ra fire;

it consumes briers and thorns;

it kindles the thickets of the forest,

and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19  Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts

the land is scorched,

and ^sthe people are like fuel for the fire;

^tno one spares another.

20  ^uThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,

and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;

^veach devours the flesh of his own arm,

21  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;

together they are ^wagainst Judah.

^xFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

1  Woe to those who ^ydecree iniquitous decrees,

and the writers who ^zkeep writing oppression,

2  to turn aside the needy from justice

and ^ato rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be their spoil,

and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3  What will you do on ^bthe day of punishment,

in the ruin that will come ^cfrom afar?

To whom will you flee for help,

and where will you leave your wealth?

4  Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners

or fall among the slain.

^dFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

5  Woe to Assyria, ^ethe rod of my anger;

the staff in their hands is my fury!

6  Against a ^fgodless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take ^gspoil and seize plunder,

and to ^htread them down like the mire of the streets.

7  But he ⁱdoes not so intend,

and his heart does not so think;

but it is in his heart to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few;

8  for he says:

^j“Are not my commanders all kings?

9  ^kIs not ^lCalno like ^mCarchemish?

Is not ⁿHamath like ^oArpad?

^pIs not ^qSamaria like Damascus?

10  As my hand has reached to ^rthe kingdoms of the idols,

whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11  shall I not do to Jerusalem and ^sher idols

^tas I have done to Samaria and her images?”

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I remove the boundaries of peoples,

and plunder their treasures;

like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

14  My hand has found like a nest

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing

or opened the mouth or chirped.”

15  Shall ^xthe axe boast over him who hews with it,

or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,

or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

16  Therefore the Lord God of hosts

will send wasting sickness among his ^ystout warriors,

and under his glory ^za burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

17  ^aThe light of Israel will become a fire,

and ^bhis Holy One a flame,

and ^cit will burn and devour

his thorns and briers ^din one day.

18  The glory of ^ehis forest and of his ^ffruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19  The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

28  He has come to Aiath;

he has passed through ^yMigron;

at Michmash he stores ^zhis baggage;

29  they have crossed over ^athe pass;

at ^bGeba they lodge for the night;

^cRamah trembles;

^dGibeah of Saul has fled.

30  Cry aloud, O daughter of ^eGallim!

Give attention, O Laishah!

O poor ^fAnathoth!

31  Madmenah is in flight;

the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32  This very day he will halt at ^gNob;

he will shake his fist

at the mount of ^hthe daughter of Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

33  Behold, the Lord God of hosts

ⁱwill lop ^jthe boughs with terrifying power;

the great in height will be hewn down,

and the lofty will be brought low.

34  He will cut down ^jthe thickets of the forest with an axe,

and ^kLebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

1  ^uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so ^vfar from saving me, from the words of my ^wgroaning?

2  O my God, I cry by ^xday, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3  Yet you are ^yholy,

^zenthroned on ^athe praises¹ of Israel.

4  In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5  To you they ^bcried and were rescued;

in you they ^ctrusted and were not put to shame.

6  But I am ^da worm and not a man,

^escorned by mankind and ^fdespised by the people.

7  All who see me ^gmock me;

they make mouths at me; they ^hwag their heads;

8  ⁱ“He trusts in the Lord; let him ^jdeliver him;

let him rescue him, for he ^kdelights in him!”

9  Yet you are he who ^ltook me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

10  On you was I cast from my birth,

and from ^mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.

11  Be not ⁿfar from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is ^onone to help.

12  Many bulls encompass me;

^pstrong bulls of ^qBashan surround me;

13  they ^ropen wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14  I am ^spoured out like water,

and all my bones are ^tout of joint;

my ^uheart is like ^vwax;

it is melted within my breast;

15  my strength is ^wdried up like a potsherd,

and my ^xtongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16  For ^ydogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers ^zencircles me;

they have ^apierced my hands and feet²—

17  I can count all my bones—

they ^bstare and gloat over me;

18  ^cthey divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19  But you, O Lord, ⁿdo not be far off!

O you my help, ^dcome quickly to my aid!

20  Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of ^ethe dog!

21  Save me from ^fthe mouth of the lion!

You have rescued³ me from the horns of ^gthe wild oxen!

22  ^hI will tell of your name to my ⁱbrothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23  You who ^jfear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, ^kglorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24  For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of ^lthe afflicted,

and he has not ^mhidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he ⁿcried to him.

25  From you comes my praise in the great ^ocongregation;

my ^pvows I will ^qperform before those who fear him.

26  ^rThe afflicted⁴ shall ^seat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts ^tlive forever!

27  All ^uthe ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all ^vthe families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28  For ^wkingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29  All ^xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall ^ybow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not ^zkeep himself alive.

30  Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ^ageneration;

31  they shall ^bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet ^cunborn,