² ·Ahaz king of Judah received a message [^LIt was reported to the house of David; ^Cthe reigning dynasty] saying, “The armies of ·Aram [Syria] and ·Israel [^LEphraim; ^Cinfluential northern tribe of Israel, used here to refer to the whole northern kingdom] have joined together [^Cin an alliance against the Assyrian empire].”

When Ahaz heard this, ·he [^Lhis heart] and the ·people [^Lheart of his people] were ·frightened [^Lshaken]. They shook with fear like trees of the forest blown by the wind.

³ Then the Lord told Isaiah, “You and your son Shear-Jashub [^Cthe name means “a remnant will return”] should go and meet Ahaz at the ·place where the water flows into [end of the aqueduct/conduit of] the upper pool, on the road ·to the field where people do their laundry [or that goes to Launderer’s Field/^Tthe fuller’s field]. ⁴ Tell Ahaz, ‘Be careful. Be ·calm [quiet] and don’t ·worry [fear]. Don’t be afraid of the ·fierce [burning] anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah [^CPekah; v. 1], because they are like two ·barely burning sticks that are ready to go out [^Lsmoldering stubs of firewood; ^Ctheir power would soon be extinguished; Damascus and Israel suffered defeat by the Assyrians in 732 bc; Israel went into exile in 722 bc].