Isaiah 9:14-21 ▼

14 Therefore the LORD cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel, Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.

15 The elderly and honorable man, he is the head; And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.

16 For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray; And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.

17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

18 For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns, It even sets the forest thickets ablaze; And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.

19 By the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.

20 They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each eats the flesh of his own arm.

21 [The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David). In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].