2 Nephi 19:21

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 19:21

21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Quotes for Discussion

Ephraim and Manasseh “shall be against Judah.”

The Jerusalem Bible reads “Manasseh devours Ephraim, Ephraim [devours] Manasseh,” meaning that tribes, families, and even brothers will contend against one another.

Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, 101

In this chapter, we encounter great wickedness, but also great power and holiness in the Messiah to be born. In the latter days, we will also see great wickedness alongside the great power of the Lord in gathering and blessing covenant Israel. To all of us, his hand is stretched out still. Hopefully, as people who dwell in a world of increasing spiritual darkness, we will see and follow the great light of God. This seems to be exactly what the Apostle Peter hoped for when he wrote:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Similarly, President James E. Faust observed, “I am well aware that the world in which the youth of today live will be vastly different from the one I have known…A moral blackness is settling in. You young people are in many ways the hope of the future, and I remind you that valuable diamonds shine better against a dark background” (Finding Light in a Dark World, 97).

John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads, p. 126-127