(1) "Drink this first, do quickly, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali," "and the rest of those who dwell by the sea, and the land of the Jordan, the Galilee of the tongues." (2) "People who walk in darkness see" (in Slavic: videsha, i.e. people) "great light; who dwell in the land and shadow of death, the light shall shine upon you." (3) "The multitude of the people whom Thou hast brought forth in Thy gladness, and they shall rejoice before Thee, as they rejoice in the harvest, and as they rejoice in the gain." (4) "Lie on them with a yoke, and the rod that is on their necks, the rod that is on their necks, is the rod of those who torment them, as in the day that is upon Midian." (5) "For they will give up all their garments with flattery and garments with reconciliation, and they will that they may be burned with fire." (6) "As the Child was born unto us, O Son, and was given unto us, His beginning was upon His frame; and His name is called: Great is the Angel of Counsel... for I will bring peace upon the princes, peace and health to Him." (7) "And His great beginning, and His peace has no end in the throne of David and in his kingdom, correct it and defend it in judgment and righteousness, from henceforth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."

The prophetic word, having to preach the gospel of the Lord's incarnation and proposing, as it were, a certain beginning of spiritual joy, greets the one to whom the gospel is addressed with these words: "Drink this first." A drinker takes a drink for the first time, absorbing it with thirst. For then the pleasure of drinking is especially perceptible, when, without nausea and vomiting, due to excessive dryness in the larynx, the one who wants to quench his thirst with drink cools himself with the moisture of the desired drink. For this reason, even now, as if preaching to thirsty people about the expected grace, the Prophet says: "Drink this first." Take joy into your soul, put into it the dogma of salvation. Do not consider him inferior to anything else, do not think that anything else is preferable to him: he is above all; it is impossible for you to imagine anything more original than Him who created you, or by nature more honorable than "the Firstborn of all creation" (cf. Col. 1:15). "Drink first." Know that "in the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1); there is nothing before the beginning; there is nothing before the Eternal in the beginning. "Drink" is not first an age, not a distance, not a place in which the Son does not exist, not a time, not a moment, not some empty idea that can be formed in the soul. "Drink this first, do it quickly." Do not do your work with laziness, not with negligence, not with carelessness, not with relaxation, but with exertion of strength, with all haste. Such was Paul; he suddenly drank the faith, did not know how to begin preaching; he "was not joined to flesh and blood" (Gal. 1:16), but as a short-flower, as soon as he received the sign to begin the race, he hastened to the end, "to the deliberate persecution, to the honor of the highest calling" (cf. Phil. 3:14).

"Strano Zavulonya". The prophet addresses himself to those with whom the Lord dwelt, to those who formerly walked in the darkness of ignorance, but at the ascent of the true Light, "Who enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9), they saw "the great light." Let no one think that there is a disagreement with the prophetic words in Matthew, if he said: "People who sit in darkness" (Matt. 4:16), while in Isaiah we find it said, "walking in darkness." For it is the same to walk and to sit in darkness, because both equally fail to attain the intended goal: the one as having no motion, and the other as walking in vain. For he who walks without a goal will never come to it, and he who is bound by inactivity will not attain it. And so, these people, darkened by pagan ignorance, saw the light; not the light of fire, nor the light of the stars or the moon, nor the light of the sun or lightning, but the "Great Light" that shines forth to the imaginary and sensual beings — the Light Which dwells with the Father and enlightens men, enlightens the Angels, is sufficient for all, and even beyond that extends His rays. In what country did the pagans live? In a country overshadowed by death. For upon them, because of idolatry, lay as it were a thick cloud, until the coming Light dispelled the fog and spread over them the radiance of truth.

Then the prophetic word passes to the very face of the Lord. What does it say? "Many people, whom Thou hast brought out, in Thy joy." For not all received the Word, but the greater part followed Him who called to eternal gladness; they will also "rejoice" before God, "as they rejoice in the harvest. For as he sows, so shall he also reap" (cf. Gal. 6:7). For this reason, on the day of recompense, those who have received the Word and have borne fruit in proportion to what has been entrusted to them here, having received a reward from the Righteous Judge, "shall rejoice as they rejoice in the harvest, and as they that rejoice in gain." Those who rejoice in the harvest have in their own labors the beginnings of gladness; those who are enriched by self-interest discover for themselves a sudden source of enrichment. For this reason the Prophet mentioned both the blessings that we will receive as a reward, and the benefits that will be granted by the grace of the Generosity.

For "they shall be cut off by the yoke, lie down" upon the Gentiles; they overthrew the heavy yoke of Him Who subjected them to the bondage of sin and forced them to bow their necks with a rod — they overthrew them so that, having established the Apostolic preaching in their souls, they would no longer be subjected to the slavery of sin.

"For the Lord scattered the rod of those who tormented them, as in the day that came upon Midian." A terrible torturer has approached human life, striking with a rod and demanding the fulfillment of his will – this is our common enemy. Do you want to know what the blows of his rod are? Listen to him who says: "Thou shalt stink and rot my wounds" (Psalm 37:6). This evil rod produces fetid scabs on the one who is struck. Imagine a man possessed by various lusts and strongly given over to the enjoyment of pleasures — what a resemblance he has between being beaten with a rod and being led into sin! Lust does not cease to sting and torment the intemperate until it produces in the soul a sinful scab, which emits a stench when it remembers vile deeds. This rod is "scattered," as it scattered the principality and dominion of the Midianites, whom I think you remember the story both in the book of Numbers and in the book of Judges. For in the book of Numbers it is said: "And he took up arms against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and slew all the males; and he slew the kings of Midian, together with their wounded ones" (Num. 31:7-8). And in the Book of Judges it is written: "Gideon returned to the host of Israel, and said, Arise, for the Lord has delivered into our hands the host of Midian" (Judg. 7:15).

What does it mean, then, to give away "all garments gathered by flattery and robe with reconciliation"? I think this is an expression of the fact that those who, by imposing a heavy yoke of sin and striking with a rod, compel to sin, will return "the garments gathered together with flattery and garments" "with reconciliation." Those who have robbed people and exposed their veils with flattery, will return it "with reconciliation." For when the common enemy takes us under his power, then he will take away from us the garments that clothe our ugliness with decorum. And the robe of Christians, covering the ugliness of our sin, is faith in Christ. "For if you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). But even before faith in Christ, our enemy laid bare human ugliness, stole from us those thoughts with which our life was adorned, and made our nakedness visible to all. Therefore, since he has stripped us of our garments with the help of his cunning ingenuity, he will give "all garments gathered to flattery and garments" "with reconciliation." For not only do we restore what has been taken from us, but we are even made better through the addition of the knowledge of Christ. "Clothe me," says the Prophet, "with the robe of salvation" and with the garment of "gladness" (cf. Isaiah 61:10). Thus, all garments "collected by flattery," that is, secretly stolen, "they will give up with reconciliation, and they will desire, that they may be burned with fire. As the Child was born unto us." The evil powers, after the coming of the Lord, cried out: "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus the Son of God? Thou hast come before the time to torment us" (Matt. 8:29). Then they would rather be burned by fire than condemned by the appearance of Christ in the flesh.

"As a child was born unto us, O Son, and was given unto us, His beginning was upon His frame; and His name is called: Great is the Angel of Counsel." How many names of the Lord the Prophet taught us, we heard above. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (cf. Isaiah 7:14; cf. Matt. 1:23). Here "His name is called: Great is the Angel of the Council" — the One Who made known the Great Council, hidden from the ages and not revealed to other generations (Col. 1:26); He Who proclaimed and revealed His "unexplored" "riches in tongues: be thou a tongue with an heir and a steward" (cf. Eph. 3:8, 6). The One "Whose beginning is on His frame," that is, the kingdom and power in the cross, for, having been lifted up on the cross, He drew all to Himself (cf. John 12:32).

"For I will bring peace upon the princes, peace and health to Him. And His beginning is great, and His peace has no bounds." From this it is evident that these words were spoken on behalf of the Father. Since the Father "pacified by the blood of His cross, through Him, whether it be earthly or heavenly" (cf. Col. 1:20), it is said: "For I will bring peace upon the princes, and His health." I think that the word shows the mystery of the Resurrection. Since "He was crucified through weakness, but alive is by the power of God" (2 Corinthians 13:4), it is said that He will be brought to health against the weakness of the flesh, which He took for us.

"And His peace has no bounds." "My peace I give unto you," says the Lord, "not as the world giveth, but I give unto you" (John 14:27). Therefore, "His peace has no bounds," for it is an all-worldly gift. If He had been of the world, He would have continued no longer than the existence of the world. But now he who has received and kept His peace will live forever, enjoying the blessings of the world. Solomon's peace was limited to a certain number of years, and the peace granted by the Lord is equal to the whole age, as infinite and boundless. For all things will submit to Him, all will acknowledge His dominion. And when "God shall be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28), after bringing the rebellious apostates into silence, then in peaceful harmony they will sing praises to God.

"On the throne of David and on his kingdom, correct it." Since it is said that "the prince shall not fail of Judah, nor the ruler of his loins, until that which is laid aside shall come unto him" (Gen. 49:10), all almost unanimously proclaim that the Lord proceeds according to the flesh from the seed of David. Therefore he will sit "on the throne of David and on his kingdom," so that "correct him and intercede for him in justice and righteousness." It is said: "Thy judgment is a great abyss; and Thy righteousness is as the mountain of God!" (cf. Psalm 35:7). Therefore His destinies are incomprehensible, and His righteousness is incomprehensible above all heights.

"The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." He who is jealous of us, who have perished in ignorance, will take upon himself the economy of men, that he may win them into his kingdom. And so "the zeal of the Lord of hosts," the God of hosts, to Whom all Power is subject, "will make it."

(8) "The Word" (in the seventy: death) "the Lord sent against Jacob, and he came against Israel," (9) "and all the people of Ephraim and those who dwell in Samaria will understand, in vexation and with high hearts, saying:" (10) "Plinths have fallen, but come, let us cut down the stone, and cut down the blueberries and cedars, and build ourselves a pillar."

It seems that by the name of Jacob and Israel, the prophetic word gives us the concept of two actions: the initial training of the imperfect, and the supreme perfection of virtue. And this idea is given to us by the very image of the renaming of the Patriarch. For at birth the Patriarch is called James, because he "holds fast to the heel" of his brothers (cf. Gen. 25:26), and after the struggle, instead of a reward, he is given the title of victor. "Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name" (Gen. 32:28). Thus, the "Word" was sent "against Jacob, and came against Israel." Though the Word descends to those who are weaker in mercy to the former, yet the most clairvoyant, sensing the benefit of the Word, as it were, plunder Him, anticipating the negligent to whom He is sent. So, "The word of the Lord sent against Jacob." Do you know the Word Who "was in the beginning, and was with God" (cf. John 1:1)? It was this Word that the Father sent to James; but the true Israel has come to know the Word, the most clairvoyant souls.