Isaiah 9:14-21 ▼

14 So the LORD cut off Israel’s head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day.

15 The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.

16 The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.

17 Therefore 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 has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.

18 For 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.

19 The land is scorched by the wrath of the LORD of Armies, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother.

20 They 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 arm.

21 Manasseh eats Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.