Isaiah speaks of people who are spiritually lost as if they were walking around in total darkness. This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh will remove the darkness from her who was in anguish" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
"Land" refers to the people who live in an area. AT: "In the past, the Lord humbled those living in Zebulun and Naphtali" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])
Here "it" refers to Galilee which represents the people who live there. AT: "but in the future, the Lord will honor the people of Galilee of the nations, which is on the road between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])
# Galilee of the nations
Here "nations" represents the people from other nations that live in Galilee. AT: "Galilee, where many foreigners live" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])
# walked in darkness ... lived in the land of the shadow of death
Isaiah speaks of the people living sinful lives and suffering because of it as if they had been walking in a dark or living in a land of shadow of death. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# a great light ... light has shone
Here "light" represents hope and deliverance. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
The phrase "shadow of death" is an idiom that means absolute darkness. AT: "the land of deepest darkness" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])