< Isaiah 7 >

1 And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Jotham, the son of 'Uzziyahu, the king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekach the son of Remalyahu, the king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it; but were not able to make an attack upon it.
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 And it was told unto the house of David, saying, Syria is encamped with Ephraim; and his heart trembled, with the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are shaken before 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 And the Lord said unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Achaz, thou with Shear-yashub thy son, to the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the washer'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 thou shalt say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, and let thy heart not become faint because of these two stumps of smoking firebrands, before the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remalyahu.
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 Forasmuch as Syria, [with] Ephraim and the son of Remalyahu, have taken evil counsel against thee, 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 go up against Judah, and besiege it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up as king in the midst of it the son of Tabeal:
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 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, It shall not succeed, and it shall not come to pass.
thus says the Lord of hosts, This counsel shall not abide, nor come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and within sixty and five years shall Ephraim be broken, to be no more 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 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remalyahu's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not have permanence.
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 And the Lord continued to speak unto Achaz, saying,
And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign from the Lord thy God; ask it in the depth, or high up above. (Sheol h7585)
Ask for yourself a sign of the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. (Sheol h7585)
12 But Achaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.
And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that ye will weary also my God?
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 will the Lord himself give you a sign: behold, this young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call his name 'Immanu-el, [God with us].
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 Cream and honey shall he eat, so soon as he knoweth to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.
Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil [or] choose the good.
16 For before yet the child shall know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good, shall be forsaken the land, of the kings of which thou feelest dread.
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 over thee, and over thy people, and over thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim withdrew from Judah, —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 And it shall come to pass on that day, that the Lord will call for the fly that is in the uttermost end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is 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 shall come, and shall encamp, all of them, in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorn-hedges, and upon all bushes.
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 the same day will the Lord shave with the razor that is hired, from among those on the other side of the river, with the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and also the beard shall it entirely remove.
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 And it shall come to pass on that day, that a man shall nourish [but] one 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 it shall happen, that for the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat cream; for cream and honey shall eat every one that is left in the midst of the land.
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 it shall come to pass on that day, that every place, where there are [now] a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, shall be, —yea, this shall be [given up] to briers and thorns.
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 With arrows and with bows shall men enter thither; because all the land shall become [covered with] briers and thorns.
[Men] shall enter there with arrow and bow; for all the land shall be [barren] ground and thorns.
25 And all mountains that are worked with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: and they shall serve for the pasture of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.
And every mountain shall be certainly ploughed: there shall no fear come there: for there shall be from [amongst] the [barren] ground and thorns that whereon cattle shall feed and oxen shall tread.

< Isaiah 7 >