The Message to Ahaz

This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah:(A) Rezin king of Aram, along with Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, waged war against Jerusalem,(B) but he could not succeed. When it became known to the house of David(C) that Aram had occupied Ephraim,(D) the heart of Ahaz[a] and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub(E) to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,(F) by the road to the Fuller’s Field. Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly(G) because of these two smoldering stubs of firebrands, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, ‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”

This is what the Lord God says:

It will not happen; it will not occur.(H)
The[b] head of Aram is Damascus,
the head of Damascus is Rezin
(within 65 years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.

The Immanuel Prophecy

10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign(I) from the Lord your God—from the depths of Sheol to the heights of heaven.”

12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”

13 Isaiah(J) said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?(K) 14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin will conceive,[d] have a son, and name him Immanuel.[e](L) 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good,(M) he will be eating butter[f] and honey.(N) 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and the house of your father, such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah(O)—the king of Assyria(P) is coming.”

18 On that day(Q)
the Lord will whistle(R) to the fly
that is at the farthest streams of the Nile
and to the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 All of them will come and settle
in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,(S)
in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.

20 On that day the Lord will use a razor(T) hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria(U)—to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.

21 On that day
a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22 and from the abundant milk they give
he will eat butter,
for every survivor in the land will eat butter and honey.(V)

23 And on that day
every place where there were 1,000 vines,
worth 1,000 pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.(W)
24 A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25 You will not go to all the hills
that were once tilled with a hoe,
for fear of the thorns and briers.
Those hills will be places for oxen to graze
and for sheep to trample.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 7:2 Lit Aram has rested upon Ephraim, his heart
  2. Isaiah 7:8 Lit For the
  3. Isaiah 7:14 In Hb, the word you is pl
  4. Isaiah 7:14 Or virgin is pregnant, will
  5. Isaiah 7:14 = God With Us
  6. Isaiah 7:15 Or sour milk

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;

And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17 The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.