Isaiah 7:1-8:15

New American Standard Bible

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. ²When 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.

³Then 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, ⁴and 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. ⁵Because ^(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,” ⁷this is what the Lord ^[e]God says: “^(O)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. ⁸For 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), ⁹and 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

¹⁰Then 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.” ¹²But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” ¹³Then 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? ¹⁴Therefore 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. ¹⁵He 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

¹⁷The 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.”

¹⁸On 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. ¹⁹They 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.

²⁰On 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.

²¹Now on that day a person may keep alive only a ^(AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²²and 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.

²³And 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. ²⁴People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵As 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.

Damascus and Samaria Fall

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(AP)write on it ^[t]in ordinary letters: ^[u]^(AQ)Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ²And ^[v]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(AR)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” ³So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him ^[w]^(AS)Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴for ^(AT)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of ^(AU)Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

⁶“Inasmuch as these people have ^(AV)rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in ^(AW)Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ^(AX)strong and abundant waters of the ^(AY)Euphrates River,
That is, the ^(AZ)king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will ^(BA)rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.
⁸Then ^(BB)it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
It will ^(BC)reach as far as the neck;
And the spread of its wings will ^[x]fill the expanse of ^[y]your land, ^(BD)Immanuel.

A Believing Remnant

⁹“^(BE)Be broken, you peoples, and be ^[z]^(BF)shattered;
And listen, all remote places of the earth.
^[aa]Get ready, yet be ^[ab]shattered;
^[ac]Get ready, yet be ^[ad]shattered.
¹⁰^(BG)Devise a plan, but it will fail;
State a ^[ae]proposal, but ^(BH)it will not stand,
For ^[af]^(BI)God is with us.”

¹¹For so the Lord spoke to me ^[ag]with ^(BJ)mighty power and instructed me ^(BK)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹²“You are not to say, ‘It is a ^(BL)conspiracy!’
Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy,
And ^(BM)you are not to fear ^[ah]what they fear or be in dread of it.
¹³It is the ^(BN)Lord of armies ^(BO)whom you are to regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
¹⁴Then He will become a ^(BP)sanctuary;
But to both houses of Israel, He will be a ^(BQ)stone of stumbling and a rock ^[ai]of offense,
And a snare and a ^(BR)trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
¹⁵Many ^(BS)will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will be snared and caught.”