War against Jerusalem

7 Now it came about in the days of ^(A)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(B)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(C)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(D)could not ^[a]conquer it. ² When it was reported to the ^(E)house of David, saying, “The Arameans ^(F)have taken a stand by ^(G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.

³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^[b]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(H)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the ^[c]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and be ^(I)calm, have no ^(J)fear and ^(K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering ^(L)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(M)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let’s go up against Judah and ^[d]terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ this is what the Lord ^[e]God says: “^(O)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(P)Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people), ⁹ and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(Q)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^[f]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask for a ^(R)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[g]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[h]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” ¹³ Then he said, “Listen now, ^(S)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^[i]try the patience of men, that you will ^[j](T)try the patience of ^(U)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(V)the ^[k]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^[l](W)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^[m](X)curds and honey ^[n]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (Y)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(Z)the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁷ The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that ^(AA)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the ^(AB)king of Assyria.”

¹⁸ On that day the Lord will ^(AC)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[o](AD)remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ They will all come and settle on the steep ^[p]ravines, on the ^(AE)ledges of the cliffs, ^(AF)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

²⁰ On that day the Lord will ^(AG)shave with a ^(AH)razor, ^(AI)hired from regions beyond ^(AJ)the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

²¹ Now on that day a person may keep alive only a ^(AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat ^[q]curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat ^[r](AL)curds and honey.

²³ And it will come about on that day, ^(AM)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(AN)briars and thorns. ²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^[s](AO)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Judah Will Be Blessed

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Enemies

14 Behold, a ^(A)day is coming for the Lord when ^(B)the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will ^(C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the ^(D)houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and ^(E)fight against those nations, as ^[a]when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day His feet will ^(F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be ^(G)split ^[b]in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. ⁵ And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the ^(H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. ^(I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with ^[c]Him!

⁶ On that day there will be ^(J)no light; the ^[d]luminaries will die out. ⁷ For it will be ^(K)a unique day which is ^(L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the ^(M)time of evening there will be light.

⁸ And on that day ^(N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord will be ^(O)King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only ^(P)one, and His name the only one.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(A)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(B)the holy place—^[a](C)let the ^[b]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [c]Whoever is on ^(D)the ^[d]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[e]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(E)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[f]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(F)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[g]life would have been saved; but for ^(G)the sake of the ^[h]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (H)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[i]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(I)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[j](J)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(K)the ^[k]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (L)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(M)coming of the ^(N)Son of Man ^[l]be. ^28 (O)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[m]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(P)tribulation of those days ^(Q)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(R)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(S)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(T)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(U)He will send forth His angels with ^(V)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[n](W)elect from ^(X)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.