Isaiah 7–8

The Message to Ahaz

7This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: ⁿRezin king of Aram, along with Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, waged war against Jerusalem, ^obut he could not succeed. ²When it became known to the house of David ^pthat Aram had occupied Ephraim, ^qthe heart of Ahaz ^rand the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.

³Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub ^sto meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, ^tby the road to the Fuller’s Field. ⁴Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly ^ubecause of these two smoldering stubs of firebrands, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. ⁵For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, ⁶‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’ ”

⁷This is what the Lord God says:

It will not happen; it will not occur. ^v

⁸The ^whead of Aram is Damascus,

the head of Damascus is Rezin

(within 65 years

Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),

⁹the 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

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

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

¹³Isaiah ^ysaid, “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? ^z14Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you ^aa sign: The virgin will conceive, ^bhave a son, and name him Immanuel. ^cd15By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, ^ehe will be eating butter ^fand honey. ^g16For 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. ¹⁷The 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 ^h—the king of Assyria ⁱis coming.”

¹⁸On that day ^j

the Lord will whistle ^kto the fly

that is at the farthest streams of the Nile

and to the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹All of them will come and settle

in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks, ^l

in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.

²⁰On that day the Lord will use a razor ^mhired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria ⁿ—to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.

²¹On that day

a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,

²²and from the abundant milk they give

he will eat butter,

for every survivor in the land will eat butter and honey. ^o

²³And on that day

every place where there were 1,000 vines,

worth 1,000 pieces of silver,

will become thorns and briers. ^p

²⁴A man will go there with bow and arrows

because the whole land will be thorns and briers.

²⁵You 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.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment ^qand write on it with an ordinary pen: ^rsMaher-shalal-hash-baz. ^t2I have appointed ^utrustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.” ^v

³I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, ⁴for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, ^wthe wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.” ^x

⁵The Lord spoke to me again:

⁶Because these people rejected

the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah

and rejoiced with ^yRezin

and the son of Remaliah, ^z

⁷the Lord will certainly bring against them

the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River—

the king of Assyria and all his glory.

It will overflow its channels

and spill over all its banks.

⁸It will pour into Judah,

flood over it, and sweep through,

reaching up to the neck; ^a

and its spreading streams ^b

will fill your entire land, Immanuel! ^c

⁹Band together, peoples, and be broken;

pay attention, all you distant lands;

prepare for war, and be broken;

prepare for war, and be broken.

¹⁰Devise a plan; it will fail. ^d

Make a prediction; it will not happen.

For God is with us. ^ef

The Lord of Hosts, the Only Refuge

¹¹For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep ^gme from going the way of this people: ^h

¹²Do not call everything an alliance

these people say is an alliance. ⁱ

Do not fear what they fear; ^j

do not be terrified.

¹³You are to regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy. ^k

Only He should be feared; ^l

only He should be held in awe.

¹⁴He will be a sanctuary; ^m

but for the two houses of Israel,

He will be a stone ⁿto stumble over

and a rock to trip over, ^o

and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵Many will stumble over these; ^p

they will fall and be broken;

they will be snared and captured.

¹⁶Bind up the testimony. ^q

Seal up the instruction ^ramong my disciples.

¹⁷I will wait for the Lord, ^s

who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. ^t

I will wait for Him.

¹⁸Here I am with the children the Lord has given me ^uto be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” ^vshouldn’t a people consult their God? ^wShould they consult the dead on behalf of the living? ^x20To the law and to the testimony! ^yIf they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

²¹They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. ²²They will look toward the earth ^zand see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.