Isaiah 9:14-21 ▼

14 So Yahweh cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

15 The head is the elder and the highly respected man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

17 Therefore the Lord is not glad in their choice men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking wicked foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back, And His hand is still stretched out.

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

19 By the fury of Yahweh 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 what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back, And His hand is still stretched out.