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Isaiah 9

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1 καὶ οὐκ ἀπορηθήσεται ὁ ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ ὢν ἕως καιροῦ τοῦτο πρῶτον ποίει ταχὺ ποίει χώρα Ζαβουλων ἡ γῆ Νεφθαλιμ ὁδὸν θαλάσσης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ τὴν παραλίαν κατοικοῦντες καὶ πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν τὰ μέρη τῆς Ιουδαίας 2 ὁ λαὸς ὁ πορευόμενος ἐν σκότει ἴδετε φῶς μέγα οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς λάμψει ἐ{F'} ὑμᾶς 3 τὸ πλεῖστον τοῦ λαοῦ ὃ κατήγαγες ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ σου καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται ἐνώπιόν σου ὡς οἱ εὐφραινόμενοι ἐν ἀμήτῳ καὶ ὃν τρόπον οἱ διαιρούμενοι σκῦλα 4 διότι ἀφῄρηται ὁ ζυγὸς ὁ ἐ{P'} αὐτῶν κείμενος καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου αὐτῶν τὴν γὰρ ῥάβδον τῶν ἀπαιτούντων διεσκέδασεν κύριος ὡς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ Μαδιαμ 5 ὅτι πᾶσαν στολὴν ἐπισυνηγμένην δόλῳ καὶ ἱμάτιον μετὰ καταλλαγῆς ἀποτείσουσιν καὶ θελήσουσιν εἰ ἐγενήθησαν πυρίκαυστοι 6 ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡμῖν οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος ἐγὼ γὰρ ἄξω εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας εἰρήνην καὶ ὑγίειαν αὐτῷ 7 μεγάλη ἡ ἀρχὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅριον ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον Δαυιδ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ κατορθῶσαι αὐτὴν καὶ ἀντιλαβέσθαι αὐτῆς ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἐν κρίματι ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον ὁ ζῆλος κυρίου σαβαωθ ποιήσει ταῦτα

1 Land of Zabulon and Nephthali, its burden at first how lightly borne! but after-wards affliction weighed on it, Galilee, by the sea road where the Gentiles dwell west of Jordan.[1] 2 And now the people that went about in darkness has seen a great light; for men abiding in a land where death overshadowed them, light has dawned. 3 Their number thou didst increase, but gavest them no joy of it;[2] now, they shall rejoice in thy presence, as men rejoice when the harvest is in, as men triumph when victory is won, and booty taken, and they fall to dividing up the spoils. 4 Yoke that fixed the burden, shaft that galled the shoulder, rod of the tyrant, all lie broken now, as they did long ago, when Madian fell. 5 All the trophies of the old tumultuous forays,[3] all the panoply stained with blood, will be burnt up now, will go to feed the flames. 6 For our sakes a child is born, to our race a son is given, whose shoulder will bear the sceptre of princely power. What name shall be given him? Peerless among counsellors, the mighty God, Father of the world to come, the Prince of peace. 7 Ever wider shall his dominion spread, endlessly at peace; he will sit on David’s kingly throne, to give it lasting foundations of justice and right; so tenderly he loves us, the Lord of hosts.

1

Primo tempore alleviata est
terra Zabulon et terra Nephthali:
et novissimo aggravata est via maris
trans Jordanem Galilææ gentium. 2
Populus qui ambulabat in tenebris,
vidit lucem magnam;
habitantibus in regione umbræ mortis,
lux orta est eis. 3
Multiplicasti gentem,
et non magnificasti lætitiam.
Lætabuntur coram te, sicut qui lætantur in messe;
sicut exsultant victores capta præda, quando dividunt spolia. 4
Jugum enim oneris ejus,
et virgam humeri ejus,
et sceptrum exactoris ejus
superasti, sicut in die Madian. 5
Quia omnis violentia prædatio cum tumultu,
et vestimentum mistum sanguine,
erit in combustionem,
et cibus ignis. 6
Parvulus enim natus est nobis,
et filius datus est nobis,
et factus est principatus super humerum ejus:
et vocabitur nomen ejus,
Admirabilis, Consiliarius, Deus, Fortis,
Pater futuri sæculi, Princeps pacis. 7
Multiplicabitur ejus imperium,
et pacis non erit finis;
super solium David, et super regnum ejus sedebit,
ut confirmet illud et corroboret
in judicio et justitia,
amodo et usque in sempiternum:
zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc.

8 θάνατον ἀπέστειλεν κύριος ἐπὶ Ιακωβ καὶ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ Ισραηλ 9 καὶ γνώσονται πᾶς ὁ λαὸς τοῦ Εφραιμ καὶ οἱ ἐγκαθήμενοι ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ ἐ{F'} ὕβρει καὶ ὑψηλῇ καρδίᾳ λέγοντες 10 πλίνθοι πεπτώκασιν ἀλλὰ δεῦτε λαξεύσωμεν λίθους καὶ ἐκκόψωμεν συκαμίνους καὶ κέδρους καὶ οἰκοδομήσωμεν ἑαυτοῖς πύργον 11 καὶ ῥάξει ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ἐπανιστανομένους ἐ{P'} ὄρος Σιων ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν διασκεδάσει 12 Συρίαν ἀ{F'} ἡλίου ἀνατολῶν καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀ{F'} ἡλίου δυσμῶν τοὺς κατεσθίοντας τὸν Ισραηλ ὅλῳ τῷ στόματι ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός ἀλ{L'} ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή 13 καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ἕως ἐπλήγη καὶ τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἐξεζήτησαν

8 Meanwhile, the Lord has issued his sentence against Jacob, his writ is out against Israel: 9 Ephraim will soon know of it, all the citizens of Samaria. Fools, that boast in the pride of their hearts: 10 The brick houses have fallen, we must build them up in stone; the sycamores have been cut down, we must plant cedars instead! 11 The Lord will make Rasin’s rivals more powerful than Rasin himself;[4] all the enemies of Israel he will set astir, 12 Syria on the East, and the Philistines in the west, that will fall upon him wide-mouthed. And even so the Lord’s anger is not appeased; his hand threatens us still. 13 Alas for the people that will not come back to God, who chastens it; that leaves the Lord of hosts unregarded as ever!

8

Verbum misit Dominus in Jacob,
et cecidit in Israël. 9
Et sciet omnis populus Ephraim,
et habitantes Samariam,
in superbia et magnitudine cordis dicentes: 10
Lateres ceciderunt, sed quadris lapidibus ædificabimus;
sycomoros succiderunt, sed cedros immutabimus. 11
Et elevabit Dominus hostes Rasin super eum,
et inimicos ejus in tumultum vertet. 12
Syriam ab oriente, et Philisthiim ab occidente;
et devorabunt Israël toto ore.
In omnibus his non est aversus furor ejus,
sed adhuc manus ejus extenta. 13
Et populus non est reversus ad percutientem se,
et Dominum exercituum non inquisierunt.

14 καὶ ἀφεῖλεν κύριος ἀπὸ Ισραηλ κεφαλὴν καὶ οὐράν μέγαν καὶ μικρὸν ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ 15 πρεσβύτην καὶ τοὺς τὰ πρόσωπα θαυμάζοντας αὕτη ἡ ἀρχή καὶ προφήτην διδάσκοντα ἄνομα οὗτος ἡ οὐρά 16 καὶ ἔσονται οἱ μακαρίζοντες τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον πλανῶντες καὶ πλανῶσιν ὅπως καταπίωσιν αὐτούς 17 διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους αὐτῶν οὐκ εὐφρανθήσεται ὁ θεὸς καὶ τοὺς ὀρφανοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς χήρας αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐλεήσει ὅτι πάντες ἄνομοι καὶ πονηροί καὶ πᾶν στόμα λαλεῖ ἄδικα ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τούτοις οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός ἀλ{L'} ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή 18 καὶ καυθήσεται ὡς πῦρ ἡ ἀνομία καὶ ὡς ἄγρωστις ξηρὰ βρωθήσεται ὑπὸ πυρός καὶ καυθήσεται ἐν τοῖς δάσεσι τοῦ δρυμοῦ καὶ συγκαταφάγεται τὰ κύκλῳ τῶν βουνῶν πάντα 19 διὰ θυμὸν ὀργῆς κυρίου συγκέκαυται ἡ γῆ ὅλη καὶ ἔσται ὁ λαὸς ὡς ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατακεκαυμένος ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐλεήσει 20 ἀλλὰ ἐκκλινεῖ εἰς τὰ δεξιά ὅτι πεινάσει καὶ φάγεται ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῇ ἄνθρωπος ἔσθων τὰς σάρκας τοῦ βραχίονος αὐτοῦ 21 φάγεται γὰρ Μανασση τοῦ Εφραιμ καὶ Εφραιμ τοῦ Μανασση ὅτι ἅμα πολιορκήσουσιν τὸν Ιουδαν ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ θυμός ἀλ{L'} ἔτι ἡ χεὶρ ὑψηλή

14 And now, in one day, the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both pliant reed and stubborn bough.[5] 15 (What is the head, but the senator that holds his head so high? What is the tail, but the prophet that gives lying assurances?) 16 False guides, that promised all was well; fools that gave them credence, to their own undoing! 17 Pride in their warriors the Lord has none, pity for orphan and widow has none; all are false and worthless, no mouth but talks presumptuously. Even so the Lord’s anger is not appeased, his hand threatens us still. 18 Our wickedness is like a raging fire, that will devour brushwood and thorn-bush, then set light to the forest’s tangled boughs; see how proudly yonder column of smoke whirls upward! 19 Fiery vengeance of the Lord of hosts, that ravages country-side and devours citizen! Brother shews brother no mercy; 20 turn he to the right, nought but famine is there; eat he what comes to his left hand, he is yet hungry, so that at last he will fall on his own flesh and blood,[6] Manasses on Ephraim and Ephraim on Manasses, and both will be banded together against Juda. 21 And even so the Lord’s anger is not appeased; his hand threatens us still.

14
Et disperdet Dominus ab Israël caput et caudam,
incurvantem et refrenantem, die una. 15
Longævus et honorabilis, ipse est caput;
et propheta docens mendacium, ipse est cauda. 16
Et erunt qui beatificant populum istum, seducentes;
et qui beatificantur, præcipitati. 17
Propter hoc super adolescentulis ejus non lætabitur Dominus,
et pupillorum ejus et viduarum non miserebitur:
quia omnis hypocrita est et nequam,
et universum os locutum est stultitiam;
in omnibus his non est aversus furor ejus,
sed adhuc manus ejus extenta. 18
Succensa est enim quasi ignis impietas:
veprem et spinam vorabit,
et succendetur in densitate saltus,
et convolvetur superbia fumi. 19
In ira Domini exercituum conturbata est terra,
et erit populus quasi esca ignis;
vir fratri suo non parcet. 20
Et declinabit ad dexteram, et esuriet;
et comedet ad sinistram, et non saturabitur;
unusquisque carnem brachii sui vorabit:
Manasses Ephraim, et Ephraim Manassen;
simul ipsi contra Judam. 21
In omnibus his non est aversus furor ejus,
sed adhuc manus ejus extenta.

[1] In the Hebrew text, this is given as verse 23 of ch. 8, and connected with verse 22 by the words, ‘Yet that ruin shall not be like the (former) straits’. But the transition here to Messianic rejoicing, and back again to lamentation in verse 8, perhaps represents a shifting current of prophetic inspiration, rather than any connexion of thought; a principle which deserves to be remembered all through the writings of the prophets. Cf. Mt. 4.15.

[2] The negative here is of doubtful authority in the Hebrew.

[3] Literally, ‘every violent foray accompanied by tumult’. The Hebrew text is generally understood as meaning ‘the boots whose tramping was so loud’.

[4] The sense here is very confused, and some think the word ‘Rasin’ has crept in by error; in which case the original meaning was, that Israel’s own enemies were exalted above him. As the text stands, the rivals of Rasin will be the Assyrians (IV Kg. 16.9).

[5] ‘Pliant reed and stubborn bough’; literally, ‘him who bends down and him who holds back’. The Hebrew text has, ‘both the palm-branch and the reed’, which is commonly understood as meaning ‘both high and low’, but seems to be interpreted by the Latin translator as meaning ‘both the stubborn (senator) and the pliant (prophet)’, so as to correspond with the ‘head’ and the ‘tail’, as explained in verse 15.

[6] Literally, ‘the flesh of his own arm’, but the context seems to shew that the words are used metaphorically.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd