5. The boots of the invading armyand all their bloodstained clothingwill be destroyed by fire.
6. A child is born to us!A son is given to us!And he will be our ruler.He will be called, “Wonderful Counsellor”,“Mighty God”, “Eternal Father”,“Prince of Peace”.
7. His royal power will continue to grow;his kingdom will always be at peace.He will rule as King David's successor,basing his power on right and justice,from now until the end of time.The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this.
8. The Lord has pronounced judgement on the kingdom of Israel, on the descendants of Jacob.
9. All the people of Israel, everyone who lives in the city of Samaria, will know that he has done this. Now they are proud and arrogant. They say,
10. “The brick buildings have fallen down, but we will replace them with stone buildings. The beams of sycomore wood have been cut down, but we will replace them with the finest cedar.”
11. The Lord has stirred up their enemies to attack them.
12. Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.
13. The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him.
14. In a single day the Lord will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail.
15. The old and honourable men are the head — and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies!
16. Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them.
17. And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity to any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish.