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 Joatham, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, there came up Rasim king of Aram, and Phakee son of Romelias, king of Israel, against Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not take 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 a message was brought to the house of David, saying, Aram has conspired with Ephraim. And his soul was amazed, and the soul of his people, as in a wood a tree is moved by 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 Esaias, Go forth to meet Achaz, you, and your son Jasub who is left, to the pool of the upper way of the fuller's field.

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 you shall say to him, Take care to be quiet, and fear not, neither let your soul be disheartened because of these two smoking firebrands: for when my fierce anger is over, I will heal again.

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

And [as for] the son of Aram, and the son of Romelias, forasmuch as they have devised an evil counsel, [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.’

We will go up against Judea, and having conferred with them we will turn them away to our side, and we will make the son of Tabeel king of it;

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

thus says the Lord of hosts, This counsel shall not abide, nor come to pass.

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 Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasim; and yet within sixty and five years the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from [being] 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 Somoron, and the head of Somoron the son of Romelias: but if you believe not, neither will you at all understand.

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,

And the Lord again spoke 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 for yourself a sign of the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. (Sheol h7585)

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

And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I 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 you now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do you contend against the Lord?

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 in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.

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

Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil [or] 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 shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which you are afraid of because of the 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.”

But God shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon the house of your father, days which have never come, from the day that Ephraim took away from Juda 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 flies, which [insect] shall rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of the Assyrians.

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 all shall enter into the clefts of the land, and into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves, and into every ravine.

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 the hired razor of the king of Assyria beyond the river the head, and the hairs of the feet, and will remove the 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 rear a heifer, 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 it shall come to pass from their drinking an abundance of milk, [that] every one that is left on the land shall eat butter and honey.

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, [for] every place where there shall be a thousand vines at a thousand shekels, they shall become barren land and thorns.

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

[Men] shall enter there with arrow and bow; for all the land shall be [barren] ground and thorns.

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 every mountain shall be certainly plowed: there shall no fear come there: for there shall be from [among] the [barren] ground and thorns that whereon cattle shall feed and oxen shall tread.