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 comes to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, [that] Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, have gone up to Jerusalem, to battle against it, and he is not able to fight against 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 it is declared to the house of David, saying, “Aram has been led toward Ephraim,” and his heart and the heart of his people is moved, like the moving of trees of a forest by the presence of 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 YHWH says to Isaiah, “Now go forth to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to the end of the conduit of the upper pool, to the highway 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 have said to him: Take heed, and be quiet, do not fear, And do not let your heart be timid, Because of these two tails of smoking brands, For the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram, And the son of Remaliah.

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

Because that Aram counseled evil against you, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, 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 go up into Judah, and we distress it, And we divide it to ourselves, And we cause a king to reign in its midst—The son of Tabeal.

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

Thus said Lord YHWH: It does not stand, nor will it 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.

For the head of Aram [is] Damascus, And the head of Damascus [is] Rezin, And within sixty-five years Is Ephraim broken 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] Samaria, And the head of Samaria [is] the son of Remaliah. If you do not give credence, Surely you are not steadfast.”

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,

And YHWH adds to speak to Ahaz, 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 a sign from your God YHWH, Make the request deep, or make [it] high upwards.” (Sheol h7585)

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

And Ahaz says, “I do not ask nor try YHWH.”

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 says, “Now hear, O house of David, Is it a little thing for you to weary men, That you also weary my God?

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 gives a sign to you, Behold, the virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a Son, And has called His Name Immanuel,

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

He eats butter and honey, When He knows to refuse evil, and to fix on 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 youth knows To refuse evil, and to fix on good, The land you are distressed with is forsaken, because 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.”

YHWH brings on you, and on your people, And on the house of your father, Days that have not come, Even from the day of the turning aside of Ephraim from Judah, By the king of Asshur.”

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 has come to pass in that day, YHWH hisses for a fly that [is] in the extremity of the brooks of Egypt, And for a bee that [is] in the land of Asshur.

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 have come, and all of them rested in the desolate valleys, And in holes of the rocks, and on all the thorns, And on all the commendable things.

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 shaves, By a razor that is hired beyond the river, By the king of Asshur, The head, and the hair of the feet, Indeed, it also consumes the beard.

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

And it has come to pass in that day, A man keeps alive a heifer of the herd, And two of the flock,

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 has come to pass, He eats butter from the abundance of the yielding of milk, For everyone who is left in the heart of the land eats 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 has come to pass in that day, Every place where there are one thousand vines, At one thousand pieces of silver, Is for briers and for thorns.

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

He comes there with arrows and with bow, Because all the land is brier and thorn.

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 all the hills that are kept in order with a mattock, There does not come [for] fear of brier and thorn, And it has been for the sending forth of ox, And for the treading of sheep!