Isaiah 7–8

Chapter 7

¹In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. ²When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” his heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go forth to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, ⁴and say to him, ‘Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. ⁵Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabe-el as king in the midst of it,” ⁷thus says the Lord GOD:

It shall not stand,

and it shall not come to pass.

⁸For the head of Syria is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)

⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you will not believe,

surely you shall not be established.’ ”

¹⁰Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹²But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young womanⁱ shall conceive and bear^j a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el.^{k 15}He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. ¹⁷The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly which is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.

²⁰In that day the Lord will shave with a razor which is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; ²²and because of the abundance of milk which they give, he will eat curds; for every one that is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

²³In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. ²⁴With bow and arrows men will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; ²⁵and as for all the hills which used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Chapter 8

¹Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write upon it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ ”^{l 2}And I got reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me. ³And 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; ⁴for before the child knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶“Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before^m Rezin and the son of Remaliah; ⁷therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks; ⁸and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanu-el.”

⁹Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed;

give ear, all you far countries;

gird yourselves and be dismayed;

gird yourselves and be dismayed.

¹⁰Take counsel together, but it will come to nought;

speak a word, but it will not stand,

for God is with us.

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹²“Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. ¹⁷I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹And when they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn. ²¹They will pass through the land,ⁿ greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse^o their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; ²²and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.