Isaiah 9:13–21

¹³But the people did not return to Him who struck them;

they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁴So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail,

both palm branch and reed in a single day.

¹⁵The head is the elder and honorable man,

and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.

¹⁶For those who guide this people mislead them,

and those they mislead are swallowed up.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men;

He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows.

For every one of them is godless and wicked,

and every mouth speaks folly.

Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;

His hand is still upraised.

¹⁸For wickedness burns like a fire

that consumes the thorns and briers

and kindles the forest thickets,

which roll upward in billows of smoke.

¹⁹By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts

the land is scorched,

and the people are fuel for the fire.

No man even spares his brother.

²⁰They carve out what is on the right,

but they are still hungry;

they eat what is on the left,

but they are still not satisfied.

Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.^d

²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim,

and Ephraim Manasseh;

together they turn against Judah.

Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;

His hand is still upraised.