Isaiah 9:13 (DRB)

Passage

And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 9:11 And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, and shall bring on his enemies in a crowd:

Isaiah 9:12 The Syrians from the east, and, the Philistines from the west: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:13 And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 9:14 And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail, him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day.

Isaiah 9:15 The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "returned", "hath", "struck", "sought", "after", "lord", and "hosts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "returned", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "The Syrians from the east and the..." into verse 14's "And the Lord shall destroy out of...", so "people" and "returned" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "people" and "returned" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.