Isaiah 7

New American Standard Bible 1995

War against Jerusalem

7 Now it came about in the days of ^(A)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(B)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(C)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(D)could not ^[a]conquer it. ² When it was reported to the ^(E)house of David, saying, “The Arameans ^[b](F)have camped in ^(G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake ^[c]with the wind.

³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^[d]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(H)conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the ^[e]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and be ^(I)calm, have no ^(J)fear and ^(K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering ^(L)firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(M)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and ^[f]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in ^[g]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord ^[h]God: “^(O)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(P)Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), ⁹ and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(Q)If you will not believe, you surely shall not ^[i]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask a ^(R)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[j]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[k]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” ¹³ Then he said, “Listen now, O ^(S)house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will ^(T)try the patience of ^(U)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(V)a ^[l]virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name ^[m](W)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^(X)curds and honey ^[n]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (Y)For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(Z)the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁷ The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that ^(AA)Ephraim separated from Judah, the ^(AB)king of Assyria.”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(AC)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[o](AD)remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ They will all come and settle on the steep ^[p]ravines, on the ^(AE)ledges of the cliffs, ^(AF)on all the thorn bushes and on all the ^[q]watering places.

²⁰ In that day the Lord will ^(AG)shave with a ^(AH)razor, ^(AI)hired from regions beyond ^(AJ)the ^[r]Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

²¹ Now in that day a man may keep alive a ^(AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat ^(AL)curds and honey.

²³ And it will come about in that day, ^(AM)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(AN)briars and thorns. ²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^[s](AO)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.