^2 [b]The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.^(B)
3 You have multiplied exultation;^[c]
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.^(C)
4 For the yoke of their burden
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.^(D)
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.^(E)
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.^(F)
7 Great will be his authority,^[d]
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.^(G)

¹³ The people did not turn to him who struck them
    or seek the Lord of hosts.^(K)
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—^(L)
15 elders and dignitaries are the head,
    and prophets who teach lies are the tail,^(M)
16 for those who led this people led them astray,
    and those who were led by them were left in confusion.^(N)
17 That is why the Lord did not have pity on^[f] their young people
    or compassion on their orphans and widows,
for everyone was godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth spoke folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
    his hand is stretched out still.^(O)

¹⁸ For wickedness burned like a fire,
    consuming briers and thorns;
it kindled the thickets of the forest,
    and they swirled upward in a column of smoke.^(P)
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land was burned,
and the people became like fuel for the fire;
    no one spared another.^(Q)
20 They gorged on the right but still were hungry,
    and they devoured on the left but were not satisfied;
they devoured the flesh of their own kindred;^[g](R)
21 Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
    and together they were against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
    his hand is stretched out still.^(S)

10 Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees,
    who write oppressive statutes,^(T)
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
    and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
to make widows their spoil
    and to plunder orphans!^(U)
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
    in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth,^(V)
4 so as not to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain?
For all this his anger has not turned away;
    his hand is stretched out still.^(W)

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples
    and have plundered their treasures;
    like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.^(AE)
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 its mouth or chirped.”^(AF)

¹⁵ Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it
    or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?
As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,
    or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!^(AG)
16 Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
    will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled
    like the burning of fire.^(AH)
17 The light of Israel will become a fire
    and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers in one day.^(AI)
18 The glory of his forest and his fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.^(AJ)
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.^(AK)

He has gone up from Samaria;^[j](AR)
28     he has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
    at Michmash he stores his baggage;^(AS)
29 they have crossed over the pass;
    at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
    Gibeah of Saul has fled.^(AT)
30 Cry aloud, O daughter Gallim!
    Listen, O Laishah!
    Answer her, O Anathoth!^(AU)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.^(AV)
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of daughter Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.^(AW)

³³ Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
    will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest trees will be cut down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.^(AX)
34 He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an ax,
    and Lebanon with its majestic trees^[k] will fall.