Isaiah 7

1 And 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.

Now 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.

2 And they reported to the house of David, saying: “Syria has withdrawn to Ephraim.”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.

And 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.

3 And 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.

Then 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;

4 And 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.”

And 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.

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

Because Aram has made evil designs against you, 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.”

Let 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:

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

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

8 For 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.

For 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):

9 For 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.

And 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.

10 And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz, saying:

And Isaiah said again to Ahaz,

11 Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, from the depths below, even to the heights above. (Sheol h7585)

Make a request to the Lord your God for a sign, a sign in the deep places of the underworld, or in the high heavens. (Sheol h7585)

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

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

13 And 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?

And 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?

14 For 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.

For 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.

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

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

16 But 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.

For 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.

17 The 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.

The 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.

18 And 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.

And 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.

19 And 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.

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

20 In 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.

In 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.

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

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

22 and, 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.

And 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.

23 And 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.

And 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.

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

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

25 But 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.”

And 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.