Isaiah 7-8
Complete Jewish Bible
7 During the days of Achaz the son of Yotam, the son of ‘Uziyahu, king of Y’hudah, Retzin the king of Aram and Pekach the son of Remalyah, king of Isra’el, advanced on Yerushalayim to attack it but were unable to conquer it. 2 It was told to the house of David that Aram and Efrayim had become allies. Achaz’s heart began to tremble, as did the hearts of his people, like forest trees shaken by the wind.
3 Then Adonai said to Yesha‘yahu, “Go out now to meet Achaz, you and your son Sh’ar Yashuv, at the end of the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderers’ Field; 4 and say to him, ‘Take care to stay calm and unafraid; don’t be demoralized by these two smoldering stumps of firewood, by the blazing anger of Retzin and Aram or the son of Remalyah; 5 or because Aram, Efrayim and the son of Remalyah have been plotting against you, thinking, 6 “We will invade Y’hudah, tear it apart, divide it among ourselves and appoint the son of Tav’el as king there.”
7 “‘This is what Adonai Elohim says:
“It won’t occur, it won’t happen.
8 For the head of Aram is Dammesek,
and the head of Dammesek Retzin.
In sixty-five years Efrayim will be broken
and will cease to be a people.
9 The head of Efrayim is Shomron,
and the head of Shomron is the son of Remalyah.
Without firm faith,
you will not be firmly established.”’”
10 Adonai spoke again to Achaz; he said, 11 “Ask Adonai your God to give you a sign. Ask it anywhere, from the depths of Sh’ol to the heights above.” 12 But Achaz answered, “I won’t ask, I won’t test Adonai.”
13 Then [the prophet] said,
“Listen here, house of David!
Is trying people’s patience
such a small thing for you
that you must try the patience
of my God as well?
14 Therefore Adonai himself
will give you people a sign:
the young woman* will become pregnant,
bear a son and name him ‘Immanu El [God is with us].
15 By the time he knows enough
to refuse evil and choose good,
he will [have to] eat
curdled milk and [wild] honey.
16 Yes, before the child knows enough
to refuse evil and choose good,
the land whose two kings you dread
will be left abandoned.
17 Adonai will bring the king of Ashur
on you, your people and your father’s house.
These will be days worse than any you’ve known
since Efrayim broke loose from Y’hudah.”
18 Yes, when that day comes,
Adonai will whistle for the fly
in the farthest streams of the Nile in Egypt
and for the bee in the land of Ashur.
19 They will come and settle, all of them,
in steep vadis and holes in the rocks
and on all thorn bushes and brambles.
20 When that day comes, Adonai will shave —
with a razor hired beyond the [Euphrates] River,
that is, with the king of Ashur —
the head and the hair between the legs,
and get rid of the beard as well.
21 When that day comes, a man will raise
a young cow and two sheep.
22 Will they produce in abundance?
No, he will [have to] eat curdled milk.
Indeed, everyone left in the land
will eat curdled milk and [wild] honey.
23 When that day comes,
wherever there once were a thousand grapevines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
there will be only briars and thorns.
24 One will go there [to hunt] with bow and arrow,
because all the land will be briars and thorns.
25 You won’t visit hills once worked with a hoe,
for fear of the briars and thorns;
it will be good only for pasturing cattle
and being trampled down by sheep.
8 Adonai said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it in easily readable letters; ‘Maher shalal, hash baz [the spoil hurries, the prey speeds along].’” 2 I had it witnessed for me by reliable witnesses — Uriyah the cohen and Z’kharyahu the son of Y’verekhyahu. 3 Then I had sexual relations with my wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son; and Adonai said to me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz; 4 because before the child knows how to cry, ‘Abba!’ and ‘Eema!’, the riches of Dammesek and the spoil of Shomron will be carried off and given to the king of Ashur.” 5 Adonai went on speaking and said more to me:
6 “Since this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters from Shilo’ach
and takes joy in Retzin and the son of Remalyah;
7 now Adonai will bring upon them
the mighty floodwaters of the [Euphrates] River —
that is, the king of Ashur and his power.
It will rise above all its channels
and overflow all its banks.
8 It will sweep through Y’hudah,
flooding everything and passing on.
It will reach even up to the neck,
and its outspread wings
will fill the whole expanse of the land.”
God is with us! [a]
9 You may make an uproar, peoples;
but you will be shattered.
Listen, all of you from distant lands:
arm yourselves, but you will be shattered;
yes, arm yourselves,
but you will be shattered;
10 devise a plan, but it will come to nothing;
say anything you like, but it won’t happen;
because God is with us [b].
11 For this is what Adonai said to me, speaking with a strong hand, warning me not to live the way this people does:
12 “Don’t regard as alliance what this people calls alliance,
and don’t fear what they fear or be awestruck by it;
13 but Adonai-Tzva’ot — consecrate him!
Let him be the object of your fear and awe!
14 He is there to be a sanctuary.
But for both the houses of Isra’el
he will be a stone to stumble over,
a rock obstructing their way;
a trap and a snare
for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall,
be broken and trapped and captured.
16 Wrap up this document, and confine its teaching to those I have instructed.”
17 I will wait for Adonai,
who is hiding his face
from the house of Ya‘akov;
yes, I will look for him.
18 Meanwhile, I and the children
whom Adonai has given me
will become for Isra’el
signs and wonders
from Adonai-Tzva’ot
living on Mount Tziyon.
19 So when they tell you to consult
those squeaking, squawking mediums and fortune-tellers;
[you are to answer],
“Shouldn’t a people seek their God?
Must the living ask the dead
20 for teaching and instruction?”
For they will indeed give you
this unenlightened suggestion.
21 Distressed and hungry
they will pass through the land;
and because of their hunger they will grow angry
and curse by their king and by their God.
But whether they look up [to God]
22 or [down] at the earth,
they will see only trouble and darkness,
anguished gloom and pervasive darkness.
23 (9:1) But there will be no more gloom
for those who are now in anguish.
In the past the land of Z’vulun
and the land of Naftali were regarded lightly;
but in the future he will honor the way to the lake,
beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Goyim.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:8 Hebrew: ‘immanu El
- Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew: ‘immanu El
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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