Isaiah 7

¹And it happened in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, ascended to Jerusalem to battle against it. But they were not able to defeat it.

²And they reported to the house of David, saying: “Syria has withdrawn to Ephraim.” And his heart was shaken, with the heart of his people, just as the trees of the forest are moved by the face of the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son, Jashub, who was left behind, to the end of the aqueduct, at the upper pool, on the road to the fuller’s field.

⁴And you shall say to him: “See to it that you are silent. Do not be afraid. And have no dread in your heart over the two tails of these firebrands, nearly extinguished, which are the wrath of the fury of Rezin, king of Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.”

⁵For Syria has undertaken a plan against you, with the evil of Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying:

⁶“Let us ascend to Judah, and stir it up, and tear it away for ourselves, and appoint the son of Tabeel as a king in its midst.”

⁷Thus says the Lord God: This shall not stand, and this shall not be.

⁸For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years from now, Ephraim will cease to be a people.

⁹For the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you will not continue.

¹⁰And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz, saying:

¹¹Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, from the depths below, even to the heights above.

¹²And Ahaz said, “I will not ask, for I will not tempt the Lord.”

¹³And he said: “Then listen, O house of David. Is it such a small thing for you to trouble men, that you must also trouble my God?

¹⁴For this reason, the Lord himself will grant to you a sign. Behold, a virgin will conceive, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.

¹⁵He will eat butter and honey, so that he may know to reject evil and to choose good.

¹⁶But even before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the land that you detest will be abandoned by the face of her two kings.

¹⁷The Lord will lead over you, and over your people, and over the house of your father, such days as have not occurred since the days of the separation of Ephraim from Judah by the king of the Assyrians.

¹⁸And this shall be in that day: the Lord will call for the fly, which is in the most distant parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the swarm, which is in the land of Assur.

¹⁹And they will arrive, and they all will rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the caverns of the rocks, and in every thicket, and in every opening.

²⁰In that day, the Lord will shave with a razor the ones hired by those who are across the river, by the king of the Assyrians, from the head to the hairs of the feet, with the entire beard.

²¹And this shall be in that day: a man will raise a cow among oxen, and two sheep,

²²and, instead of an abundance of milk, he will eat butter. For all who are left behind in the midst of the land will eat butter and honey.

²³And this shall be in that day: every place, where there were a thousand grapevines worth a thousand pieces of silver, will become thorns and briers.

²⁴They will enter such places with arrows and bows. For briers and thorns will be throughout the entire land.

²⁵But as for all the mountains, which will be dug with a hoe, the terror of thorns and briers will not approach those places. And there will be pasture land for oxen, and a range for cattle.”

Isaiah 7

¹And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin king of Syria and Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it.

²And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's field.

⁴And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these firebrands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia.

⁵Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying:

⁶Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof.

⁷Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be.

⁸But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people:

⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue.

¹⁰And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:

¹¹Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above.

¹²And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.

¹³And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?

¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

¹⁵He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.

¹⁶For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings.

¹⁷The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians.

¹⁸And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places.

²⁰In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard.

²¹And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep.

²²And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land.

²³And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers.

²⁴With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land.

²⁵And as for the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon.