Isaiah’s Vision

6 In the year of ^(A)King Uzziah’s death ^(B)I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. ² Seraphim were standing above Him, ^(C)each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. ³ And one called out to another and said,

⁴ And the ^[b]foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the ^[c](F)temple was filling with smoke. ⁵ Then I said,

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the ^(K)altar with tongs. ⁷ He ^(L)touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and ^(M)your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”

Isaiah’s Commission

⁸ Then I heard the ^(N)voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then ^(O)I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹ And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, ^(T)how long?” And He answered,

War against Jerusalem

7 Now it came about in the days of ^(Z)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(AA)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(AB)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(AC)could not ^[h]conquer it. ² When it was reported to the ^(AD)house of David, saying, “The Arameans ^(AE)have taken a stand by ^(AF)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 ^[i]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(AG)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the ^[j]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and be ^(AH)calm, have no ^(AI)fear and ^(AJ)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering ^(AK)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(AL)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(AM)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let’s go up against Judah and ^[k]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 ^[l]God says: “^(AN)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(AO)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. ^(AP)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^[m]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask for a ^(AQ)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[n]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[o]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” ¹³ Then he said, “Listen now, ^(AR)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^[p]try the patience of men, that you will ^[q](AS)try the patience of ^(AT)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(AU)the ^[r]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^[s](AV)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^[t](AW)curds and honey ^[u]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (AX)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(AY)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 ^(AZ)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the ^(BA)king of Assyria.”

¹⁸ On that day the Lord will ^(BB)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[v](BC)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 ^[w]ravines, on the ^(BD)ledges of the cliffs, ^(BE)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

²⁰ On that day the Lord will ^(BF)shave with a ^(BG)razor, ^(BH)hired from regions beyond ^(BI)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 ^(BJ)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat ^[x]curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat ^[y](BK)curds and honey.

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

^16 (A)Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying, I am not saying ^[a](B)as the Lord would, but as ^(C)in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸ Since ^(D)many boast ^(E)according to the flesh, I will boast also. ¹⁹ For you, ^(F)being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. ²⁰ For you tolerate it if anyone ^(G)enslaves you, if anyone ^(H)devours you, if anyone ^(I)takes advantage of you, if anyone ^(J)exalts himself, if anyone ^(K)hits you in the face. ²¹ To my ^(L)shame I must say that we have been ^(M)weak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else ^(N)is bold—I am ^(O)speaking in foolishness—I too am bold. ²² Are they ^(P)Hebrews? ^(Q)So am I. Are they ^(R)Israelites? ^(S)So am I. Are they ^[b](T)descendants of Abraham? ^(U)So am I. ²³ Are they ^(V)servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if insane—I more so; in ^(W)far more labors, in ^(X)far more imprisonments, ^[c](Y)beaten times without number, often in danger of ^(Z)death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews ^(AA)thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵ Three times I was ^(AB)beaten with rods, once I was ^(AC)stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift at sea. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^(AD)countrymen, dangers from the ^(AE)Gentiles, dangers in the ^(AF)city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among ^(AG)false brothers; ²⁷ I have been in ^(AH)labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in ^(AI)hunger and thirst, often ^(AJ)without food, in cold and ^[d](AK)exposure. ²⁸ Apart from such ^[e]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^(AL)all the churches. ²⁹ Who is ^(AM)weak without my being weak? Who is ^[f]led into sin ^[g]without my intense concern?

³⁰ If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^(AN)weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(AO)He who is blessed forever, ^(AP)knows that I am not lying. ³² In ^(AQ)Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^(AR)guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³ and I was let down in a basket ^(AS)through a window ^[h]in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”

On Life and Conduct