Isaiah 7

¹Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but were not able to overcome it.

²And word came to the family of David that Aram had put up its tents in Ephraim. And the king's heart, and the hearts of his people, were moved, like the trees of the wood shaking in the wind.

³Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now, you and Shear-jashub, your son, and you will come across Ahaz at the end of the stream flowing from the higher pool, in the highway of the washerman's field;

⁴And say to him, Take care and be quiet; have no fear, and do not let your heart be feeble, because of these two ends of smoking fire-wood, because of the bitter wrath of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.

⁵Because Aram has made evil designs against you, saying,

⁶Let us go up against Judah, troubling her, and forcing our way into her, and let us put up a king in her, even the son of Tabeel:

⁷This is the word of the Lord God: This design will not come about or be effected.

⁸For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be broken, and will no longer be a people):

⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not have faith, your kingdom will be broken.

¹⁰And Isaiah said again to Ahaz,

¹¹Make a request to the Lord your God for a sign, a sign in the deep places of the underworld, or in the high heavens.

¹²But Ahaz said, I will not put the Lord to the test by making such a request.

¹³And he said, Give ear now, O family of David: is it not enough that you are driving men to disgust? will you do the same to my God?

¹⁴For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel.

¹⁵Butter and honey will be his food, when he is old enough to make a decision between evil and good.

¹⁶For before the child is old enough to make a decision between evil and good, the land whose two kings you are now fearing will have become waste.

¹⁷The Lord is about to send on you, and on your people, and on your father's house, such a time of trouble as there has not been from the days of the separating of Ephraim from Judah; even the coming of the king of Assyria.

¹⁸And it will be in that day that the Lord will make a piping sound for the fly which is in the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹And they will come, covering all the waste valleys, and the holes of the rocks, and the thorns, and all the watering-places.

²⁰In that day will the Lord take away the hair of the head and of the feet, as well as the hair of the face, with a blade got for a price from the other side of the River; even with the king of Assyria.

²¹And it will be in that day that a man will give food to a young cow and two sheep;

²²And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land.

²³And it will be in that day that in every place where before there were a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver, there will be nothing but blackberries and thorns.

²⁴Men will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be full of blackberries and thorns.

²⁵And they will send out the oxen and the sheep on all the hills which before were worked with the spade, ... fear of blackberries and thorns.

Isaiah 7

¹It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

²It was told the house of David, saying, "Syria is allied with Ephraim." His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.

³Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field.

⁴Tell him, 'Be careful, and keep calm. Do not be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

⁵Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,

⁶"Let's go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let's divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel."

⁷This is what the Lord God says: "It shall not stand, neither shall it happen."

⁸For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;

⁹and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

¹⁰The Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

¹¹"Ask a sign of the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."

¹²But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord."

¹³He said, "Listen now, house of David: Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?

¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

¹⁵He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

¹⁶For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

¹⁷The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

¹⁸It will happen in that day that the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.

²⁰In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.

²¹It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;

²²and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter: for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left in the midst of the land.

²³It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.

²⁴People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.

²⁵All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep."