Isaiah 7:1–8:22

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7Now it came to pass in the days of ^aAhaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against ^bit, but could not ¹prevail against it. ²And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are ²deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

³Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and ³Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, ⁴and say to him: ⁴‘Take heed, and ⁵be ^cquiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. ⁵Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, ⁶“Let us go up against Judah and ⁶trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—⁷thus says the Lord God:

^d“It shall not stand,

Nor shall it come to pass.

^8eFor the head of Syria is Damascus,

And the head of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be ⁷broken,

So that it will not be a people.

⁹The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.

^fIf you will not believe,

Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

The Immanuel Prophecy

¹⁰Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ^11g“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ⁸ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

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

¹³Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? ¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: ^hBehold, the virgin shall conceive and bear ⁱa Son, and shall call His name ^jImmanuel. ⁹¹⁵Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16kFor before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by ^lboth her kings. ^17mThe Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that ⁿEphraim departed from Judah.”

¹⁸And it shall come to pass in that day

That the Lord ^owill whistle for the fly

That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,

And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹They will come, and all of them will rest

In the desolate valleys and in ^pthe clefts of the rocks,

And on all thorns and in all pastures.

²⁰In the same day the Lord will shave with a ^qhired ^rrazor,

With those from beyond ¹the River, with the king of Assyria,

The head and the hair of the legs,

And will also remove the beard.

²¹It shall be in that day

That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;

²²So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,

That he will eat curds;

For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

²³It shall happen in that day,

That wherever there could be a thousand vines

Worth a thousand shekels of silver,

^sIt will be for briers and thorns.

²⁴With arrows and bows men will come there,

Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

²⁵And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,

You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;

But it will become a range for oxen

And a place for sheep to roam.

Assyria Will Invade the Land

8Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and ^awrite on it with a man’s pen concerning ¹Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ²And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, ^bUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; ^4cfor before the child ²shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ ^dthe riches of Damascus and the ³spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:

⁶“Inasmuch as these people refused

The waters of ^eShiloah that flow softly,

And rejoice ^fin Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;

⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them

The waters of ⁴the River, strong and mighty—

The king of Assyria and all his glory;

He will ⁵go up over all his channels

And go over all his banks.

⁸He will pass through Judah,

He will overflow and pass over,

^gHe will reach up to the neck;

And the stretching out of his wings

Will ⁶fill the breadth of Your land, O ^hImmanuel. ⁷

⁹“Be ⁱshattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!

Give ear, all you from far countries.

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.

^10jTake counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

Speak the word, ^kbut it will not stand,

^lFor ⁸God is with us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with ⁹a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

¹²“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’

Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,

Nor be afraid of their ¹threats, nor be ²troubled.

¹³The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;

Let Him be your fear,

And let Him be your dread.

^14mHe will be as a ³sanctuary,

But ⁿa stone of stumbling and a rock of ⁴offense

To both the houses of Israel,

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

¹⁵And many among them shall ^ostumble;

They shall fall and be broken,

Be snared and ⁵taken.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony,

Seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷And I will wait on the Lord,

Who ^phides His face from the house of Jacob;

And I ^qwill hope in Him.

^18rHere am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!

We ^sare for signs and wonders in Israel

From the Lord of hosts,

Who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹And when they say to you, ^t“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, ^uwho whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they ^vseek the dead on behalf of the living? ^20wTo the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^xthere ⁶is no light in them.

²¹They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and ^ycurse ⁷their king and their God, and look upward. ²²Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.