Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 Now it happened 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 told to the ^(E)house of David, saying, “^[b]The Arameans ^(F)have camped in ^(G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^[c]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(H)conduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the ^[d]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and stay ^(I)quiet, have no ^(J)fear and ^(K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering ^(L)firebrands, on account of the burning anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(M)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has counseled evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and ^[e]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in ^[f]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says Lord Yahweh: “^(O)It shall not stand, nor shall it happen. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(P)Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five 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 do not ^[g]establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not ^[h]be established.”’”

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Then Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask a ^(R)sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; ^[i]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[j]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not test Yahweh!” ¹³ Then he said, “^[k]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)the ^[l]virgin ^[m]will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name ^[n](W)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^(X)curds and honey ^[o]in order that He will know to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (Y)For before the boy will know to refuse evil and choose good, ^(Z)the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. ¹⁷ Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days which have never come since the day that ^(AA)Ephraim separated from Judah—the ^(AB)king of Assyria!”

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁸ And it will be in that day, that Yahweh will ^(AC)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[p](AD)remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and rest upon the steep ^[q]ravines, on the ^(AE)crevices of the cliffs, ^(AF)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the ^[r]watering places.

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

²¹ And it will be in that day, that 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 be in that day, ^(AM)that every place where there used to be one thousand vines, valued at ^[t]one 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 ^[u](AO)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.