Isaiah 7:8-8:4

New American Standard Bible

⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(A)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. ^(B)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^[a]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask for a ^(C)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[b]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[c]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” ¹³ Then he said, “Listen now, ^(D)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^[d]try the patience of men, that you will ^[e](E)try the patience of ^(F)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(G)the ^[f]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^[g](H)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^[h](I)curds and honey ^[i]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (J)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(K)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 ^(L)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the ^(M)king of Assyria.”

¹⁸ On that day the Lord will ^(N)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[j](O)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 ^[k]ravines, on the ^(P)ledges of the cliffs, ^(Q)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

²⁰ On that day the Lord will ^(R)shave with a ^(S)razor, ^(T)hired from regions beyond ^(U)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 ^(V)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat ^[l]curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat ^[m](W)curds and honey.

²³ And it will come about on that day, ^(X)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(Y)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 ^[n](Z)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Damascus and Samaria Fall

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(AA)write on it ^[o]in ordinary letters: ^[p](AB)Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ² And ^[q]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(AC)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” ³ So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him ^[r](AD)Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴ for ^(AE)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of ^(AF)Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”