1. And the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali
rushed forward [toward their destiny,]
and their consternation grew deeper --
the sea route,
the crossings of the Jordan River,
Galilee of the nations.
2. The nation that walked
in darkness
saw a great light shine upon
them,
and those who sat in the land of
the shadows of death,
the light shined
upon them.
3. The nation increased in
numbers
and their happiness became greater,
they were happy before you,
like
those people who reap the harvest are happy,
and
like those people who celebrate
when they
divide the spoils.
4. Because the yoke of
their submission,
the staff of their shoulder
and the rod that subjugated them
you have broken
like the Day of Judgment.*
5. Because whosever voice is
heard in revolt,
his garments will be
rolled in blood,
and he will be burned
and consumed by fire.
6. Because a king
is born to us,
and a son is given to us,
and
his authority shall be upon his shoulders,
and
his name shall be called Wonderful and Counselor,
Almighty
God of all the Universe
and the Prince of
Peace.
7. Neither the expanding of his rule
and the spreading of his peace
have
any boundaries,
nor his assumption of
David's throne
and his kingdom [have any limits,]
as he assumes and sustains them
through
judgment and holiness
from
their inception
and to the end of the universe.
The zeal of the Almighty Lord
shall accomplish this.
8. The Lord sent
an answer through Jacob
and it fell to
Israel.
9. All the nations shall know,
Ephraim
and the inhabitants of Samaria,
for through
arrogance or pride* they say,
10.
"We cast bricks and laid plans for a foundation,*
and
we cut down* the timber
and replaced the
Sycamore wood."*
11. And the Lord
hardened the oppressors of Rezin against him,
and
made his enemies growl against him.
12.
Edom from the East
and the Philistines
from the West;
they shall eat Israel with
an all-consuming mouth,*
and with all this his anger returns not
so as he should raise his hand again.
13. All the people did not turn back,
until they were swallowed,
and the Almighty Lord they did not love.
14. And the Lord obliterated from Israel
the heads and the tails* in one day.
15. The old and the facile became the head,
and the prophet that teaches abstinence became the tail.
16. And the beneficiaries of this people
shall be both his detractors
and his adherents.*
17. That is why the Lord does not delight in their youth,
and for their orphans and widows he has no sympathy,
because they are all retrogrades and evil-doers,
and every mouth utters profanities,
but despite all this his anger returns not
so as he should raise his hand again.
18. Because sin rages like a fire
consuming the thorns and the thistles,
and it overwhelms the great majority,
leaving only the elect to gaze upon the smoke.*
19. And the wrath of the Almighty Lord shook the earth,
and the people were like someone
who is consumed by the fire,
when a man cannot even rely on his own brother.
20. And he circles* to his right and hungers;
he eats on his left but is not satisfied --
a man eats the flesh of his own arm.*
21. Manasseh against Ephraim,
and as one against Judah,
and despite all this his anger returns not
so as he should raise his hand again.
*9 This chapter begins with the prophesy regarding the coming of the Messiah at the time when the Jews were under the oppression of Rome.
*9:4 Lit. Ar. poetic construction: "As the Day judged."
*9:9 Lit. Ar. id.: "Greatness of heart."
*9:10.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Proscribed a circle."
*9:10.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Leveled."
*9:10.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Sycamores."
*9:12 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "With all their mouth."
*9:14 Lit. Ar. id.: "The leaders and the lackeys."
*9:16 Thus prophesying that the Jews will be both Jesus' persecutors and Jesus' followers.
*9:18 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "And the elect shall be delayed by the smoke."
*9:20.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Circumcises," or "cuts in a circle."
*9:20.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression retained: "A man eats what he earns with his own arm."