Isaiah 9:14
12 Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
13 But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.
15 The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
16 For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.
- KJV
- Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
- WEB
- Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day.
- ASV
- Therefore Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day.
- DARBY
- And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day:
- BLB
- And YHWH will cut off from Israel the head and tail, palm branch and reed, in a single day.
- ÅB
- Derfor avhugger Herren av Israel både hode og hale, både palmegren og siv, alt på en dag.
- OTB
- Derfor skal Herren kutte av både hode og hale fra Israel, både palmegren og siv på én dag.
- B1930
- Derfor avhugger Herren av Israel både hode og hale, både palmegren og siv, alt på en dag.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Revelation 18:8
Therefore her plagues will come in one day— death and grief and famine— and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
Read in contextIsaiah 19:15
There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm or reed.
Read in contextAmos 6:11
For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
Read in contextIsaiah 30:13
this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant!
Read in contextHosea 13:3
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.
Read in contextRevelation 18:10
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
Read in contextAmos 3:12
This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
Read in contextMicah 1:6–8
Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
Read in context