Isaiah 7-9
Amplified Bible
War against Jerusalem
7 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of [a]Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. 2 When the house of David (Judah) was told, “Aram is allied with Ephraim (Israel),” the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz [king of Judah], you and your son [b]Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the highway to the [c]Fuller’s Field; 4 and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, do not fear and be weak-hearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of [King] Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Pekah, usurper of the throne of Israel). 5 Because Aram, along with Ephraim (Israel) and the son of Remaliah, have planned evil against you (Judah), saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it; and let us breach its wall and tear it apart [each of us taking a portion] and set up the son of Tabeel over it as its [puppet] king,” 7 for this is what the Lord God says, “It shall not stand nor shall it happen. 8 For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people). 9 And the head (capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son [King Pekah]. If you will not [d]believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established.”’”
The Child Immanuel
10 Then the Lord spoke again to [King] Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; make your request as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “[e]I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too small a thing for you to try the patience of men, but will you try the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the [f]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).(A) 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 For before the child will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land (Canaan) whose two kings you dread will be deserted [both Ephraim and Aram].(B)
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 Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) separated from Judah—[He will call for] the king of Assyria.”
18 In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the [g]mouth of the rivers and canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 These [armies, like flies and bees] will all come and settle on the steep and rugged ravines and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thorn bushes and in all the watering places.
20 In that day [when foreign armies swarm the land] the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from the regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), [that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard [leaving Judah stripped, shamed and scorned].(C)
21 Now in that day [because of the poverty caused by the invaders] a man will keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep; 22 and because of the abundance of milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left in the land will eat [only] curds and [wild] honey.
23 And it will come to pass in that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be briars and thorns. 24 People will come there [to hunt] with arrows and with bows because all the land will be briars and thorns. 25 As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the pick and the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are pastured and where sheep tread.
Damascus and Samaria Fall
8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet [for public display] and write on it in ordinary characters: Belonging to [h]Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I will get faithful witnesses to attest [to this prophecy] for me, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3 So I approached [my wife] the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz [to remind the people of the prophecy]; 4 for before the boy knows how to say, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus (Aram’s capital) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel’s capital) [i]will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
5 Again the Lord spoke to me, saying,
6
“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of [j]Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],
7
Now therefore, listen carefully, the Lord is about to bring on them the waters of the [Euphrates] River, strong and abundant—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise over all its channels and canals and go far beyond its banks.(D)
8
“Then it will [k]sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through [the hills],
Reaching even to the neck [of which Jerusalem is the head],
And its outstretched wings (the armies of Assyria) will fill the width of Your land, O Immanuel.(E)
A Believing Remnant
9
“Be broken [in pieces], O peoples, and be shattered!
Listen, all you [our enemies from the] far countries.
Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered;
Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered.
10
“Take counsel together [against Judah], but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us (Immanuel).”
11 For in this way the Lord spoke to me with His strong hand [upon me] and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people [behaving as they do], saying,
12
“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.
13
“It is the Lord of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome.
He shall be your [source of] fear,
He shall be your [source of] dread [not man].
14
“Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him];
But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip,
A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.(F)
15
“Many [among them] will stumble over them;
Then they will fall and be broken,
They will even be snared and trapped.”
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah’s) disciples. 17 And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will look eagerly for Him. 18 Listen carefully, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are [l]for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19 When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, “Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 [Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.
Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace
9 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
2
The people who walk in [spiritual] darkness
[m]Will see a great Light;
Those who live in the dark land,
The Light will shine on them.(G)
3
You [O God] will increase the nation,
You will multiply their joy;
They will rejoice before You
Like the joy and jubilation of the harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of victory].
4
For You will break the yoke of Israel’s burden and the staff (goad) on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the [n]battle of Midian.(H)
5
For every boot of the marching warrior in the battle tumult,
And [every soldier’s] garment rolled in blood, will be used for burning, fuel for the fire.
6
For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(I)
7
There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.(J)
God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8
The Lord sends a word (message) against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel [the ten northern tribes, the kingdom of Ephraim].
9
And all the people know it,
That is, [o]Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10
“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild [all the better] with ashlar (hewed stones);
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with [expensive] cedars.”
11
Therefore the Lord raises against Ephraim adversaries from Rezin [king of Aram]
And spurs their enemies on,
12
The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
13
Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].
14
Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel,
Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.
15
The elderly and honorable man, he is the head;
And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16
For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray;
And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.
17
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
18
For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns,
It even sets the forest thickets ablaze;
And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.
19
By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up,
And the people are like fuel for the fire;
No man spares his brother.
20
They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each eats the flesh of his own arm.
21
[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
Footnotes
- Isaiah 7:1 The people of the kingdom of Aram were descended from Aram, the youngest son of Shem, the son of Noah (Gen 10:22, 23). The territory of the Arameans also included the areas later identified as Syria and Mesopotamia.
- Isaiah 7:3 A prophetic name meaning a remnant shall return.
- Isaiah 7:3 A field where freshly washed clothes were spread out to bleach and dry in the sun.
- Isaiah 7:9 The same Hebrew word is used both for believe and be established.
- Isaiah 7:12 This was a misplaced sense of faithfulness on Ahaz’s part. It is wise not to ask God for a sign, unless He offers one as He did to Ahaz.
- Isaiah 7:14 This prophecy of the virgin is declared in Matt 1:22, 23 to be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. There has been a great deal of discussion over the Hebrew word found here for virgin (almah) and the word that Matthew uses (parthenos). The latter refers unambiguously to a virgin, while the former (almah) has been said to refer to a young woman, in contrast to the Hebrew word bethulah, which is the equivalent of the Gr parthenos. It has also been noted that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, has parthenos here for almah, and that Matt 1:23 is taken from the Septuagint. Some have wondered why the Septuagint translators used the more specific word parthenos. It is fair to say that this question is the result of oversimplifying the vocabulary and misinterpreting the distinctions. The Hebrew words almah and bethulah can actually refer to the same kind of woman; almah is a youthful woman of marriageable age, one who has not yet had her first child, while bethulah is one who has not been touched in an intimate way. Furthermore, in the present context it would be unthinkable to infer that the woman might have had sexual relations outside of marriage. So the well-known translation of “young woman” for almah, while technically not incorrect, can be viewed as too ambiguous for the Hebrew word and the context. Parthenos was an appropriate choice in the Greek. Another word, kore (for “girl”) could have been used, but it has a wider range of meaning than the Heb almah (Mark uses a related word, korasion, to translate Jesus’ Aramaic word talitha). It should also be acknowledged from a theological perspective that when Matthew cites the verse with parthenos, he thereby authenticates it as inspired.
- Isaiah 7:18 Lit end.
- Isaiah 8:1 I.e. swift is the plunder, speedy is the prey.
- Isaiah 8:4 Samaria was overthrown by Assyria in 722 b.c., ten years after the downfall of Damascus, fulfilling this prophecy.
- Isaiah 8:6 The perennial spring outside Jerusalem that flowed to the Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem’s water supply. The spring was a symbol of God’s protection and sustaining power.
- Isaiah 8:8 This prophecy was literally fulfilled, and although Aram and Israel were conquered and led into captivity, the kingdom of Judah was spared and continued for over 130 years.
- Isaiah 8:18 Isaiah’s own name means “Salvation of the Lord.” His two children’s names were “signs” as well, the one (see note v 1) pointing to the coming military crisis and the other (see note 7:3) to the future restoration.
- Isaiah 9:2 Or have seen, Hebrew perfect tense. The perfect tense is used frequently in this passage and should probably be interpreted as the prophetic future, that is, the use of the perfect (past) tense to describe a future event as a certainty.
- Isaiah 9:4 A reference to Gideon’s great victory over the Midianites (Judg 7:22-25).
- Isaiah 9:9 The names “Israel” and “Ephraim” are used interchangeably to refer to the ten tribes of the northern kingdom.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
