Isaiah 7

1 Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.

And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Basin 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.

2 When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.

And 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.

3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,

And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool, a in the way of the fuller’s held.

4 and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.

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

5 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:

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

6 ‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’

Let 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.

7 But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen.

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

8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people.

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

9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”

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

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,

And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:

11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.” (Sheol h7585)

Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. (Sheol h7585)

12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”

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

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?

And 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?

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

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

15 By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.

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

16 For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

For 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.

17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

The 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.

18 On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.

And 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.

19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes and watering holes.

And 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.

20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates —the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

In 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.

21 On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,

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

22 and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.

And 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.

23 And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.

And 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.

24 Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.

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

25 For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.

And as for all 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.