Isaiah 7–11

Chapter 7

War against Jerusalem

1 Now it came about in the days of aAhaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that bRezin the king of Aram and cPekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but dcould not 1conquer it.

2 When it was reported to the ahouse of David, saying, “The Arameans 1bhave camped in cEphraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake 2with the wind.

3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son 1Shear-jashub, at the end of the aconduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the 2fuller’s field,

4 and say to him, ‘Take care and be acalm, have no bfear and cdo not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering dfirebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the eson of Remaliah.

5 ‘Because aAram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

6 “Let us go up against Judah and 1terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in 2its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

7 thus says the Lord 1God: “aIt shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.

8 “For the head of Aram is aDamascus 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. aIf you will not believe, you surely shall not 1last.” ’ ”

The Child Immanuel

10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

11 “Ask a asign for yourself from the Lord your God; 1make it deep as Sheol or high as 2heaven.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

13 Then he said, “Listen now, O ahouse of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will btry the patience of cmy God as well?

14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, aa 1virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name 2bImmanuel.

15 “He will eat acurds and honey 1at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

16 “aFor before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, bthe 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 aEphraim separated from Judah, the bking of Assyria.”

18 In that day the Lord will awhistle for the fly that is in the 1bremotest 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 1ravines, on the aledges of the cliffs, bon all the thorn bushes and on all the 2watering places.

20 In that day the Lord will ashave with a brazor, chired from regions beyond dthe 1Euphrates (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 aheifer 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 acurds and honey.

23 And it will come about in that day, athat every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become bbriars 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 1apasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Chapter 8

Damascus and Samaria Fall

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and awrite on it 1in ordinary letters: 2bSwift is the booty, speedy is the prey.

2 “And 1I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, aUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him 1aMaher-shalal-hash-baz;

4 for abefore the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of bDamascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5 Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

6 “Inasmuch as these people have arejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah

And rejoice in bRezin and the son of Remaliah;

7 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the astrong and abundant waters of the 1bEuphrates,

Even the cking of Assyria and all his glory;

And it will drise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

8 “Then ait will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,

It will breach even to the neck;

And the spread of its wings will 1fill the breadth of 2your land, O cImmanuel.

A Believing Remnant

9 “aBe broken, O peoples, and be 1bshattered;

And give ear, all remote places of the earth.

Gird yourselves, yet be 1shattered;

Gird yourselves, yet be 1shattered.

10 “aDevise a plan, but it will be thwarted;

State a 1proposal, but bit will not stand,

For 2cGod is with us.”

11 For thus the Lord spoke to me 1with amighty power and instructed me bnot to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a aconspiracy!’

In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,

And byou are not to fear 1what they fear or be in dread of it.

13 “It is the aLord of hosts bwhom you should regard as holy.

And He shall be your fear,

And He shall be your dread.

14 “Then He shall become a asanctuary;

But to both the houses of Israel, a bstone to strike and a rock to stumble over,

And a snare and a ctrap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 “Many awill stumble over them,

Then they will fall and be broken;

They will even be snared and caught.”

16 aBind up the testimony, bseal the 1law among cmy disciples.

17 And I will await for the Lord bwho is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.

18 aBehold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for bsigns and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who cdwells on Mount Zion.

19 When they say to you, “aConsult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people bconsult their God? Should they cconsult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the 1alaw and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because bthey have no dawn.

21 They will pass through 1the land ahard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse 2their king and their God as they face upward.

22 Then they will alook to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be bdriven away into darkness.

Chapter 9

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

1 1But there will be no more agloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He btreated the cland of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the 2Gentiles.

2 1aThe people who walk in darkness

Will see a great light;

Those who live in a dark land,

The light will shine on them.

3 aYou shall multiply the nation,

You bshall 1increase 2their gladness;

They will be glad in Your presence

As with the gladness 3of harvest,

As 4cmen rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4 For aYou shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,

The rod of their boppressor, as 1at the battle of cMidian.

5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,

And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

6 For a achild will be born to us, a bson will be given to us;

And the cgovernment will 1rest don His shoulders;

And His name will be called eWonderful Counselor, fMighty God,

Eternal gFather, Prince of hPeace.

7 There will be ano end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the bthrone of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with cjustice and righteousness

From then on and forevermore.

dThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

8 The Lord sends a 1message against Jacob,

And it falls on Israel.

9 And all the people know it,

That is, aEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

Asserting in pride and in barrogance of heart:

10 “The bricks have fallen down,

But we will arebuild with smooth stones;

The sycamores have been cut down,

But we will replace them with cedars.”

11 Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from aRezin

And spurs their enemies on,

12 The Arameans on the east and the aPhilistines on the west;

And they bdevour Israel with 1gaping jaws.

cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.

13 Yet the people ado not turn back to Him who struck them,

Nor do they bseek the Lord of hosts.

14 So the Lord cuts off ahead and tail from Israel,

Both palm branch and bulrush bin a single day.

15 The head is athe elder and honorable man,

And the prophet who teaches bfalsehood is the tail.

16 aFor those who guide this people are leading them astray;

And those who are guided by them are 1brought to confusion.

17 Therefore the Lord does anot take pleasure in their young men,

bNor does He have pity on their 1orphans or their widows;

For every one of them is cgodless and an devildoer,

And every emouth is speaking foolishness.

fIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.

18 aFor wickedness burns like a fire;

It consumes briars and thorns;

It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame

And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19 By the afury of the Lord of hosts the bland is burned up,

And the cpeople are like fuel for the fire;

No dman spares his brother.

20 1They slice off what is on the right hand but still are ahungry,

And 2they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;

Each of them eats the bflesh of his own arm.

21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,

aAnd together they are against Judah.

bIn spite of all …