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. ² When 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.

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

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

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 ^(AA)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the ^(AB)king of Assyria.”

² Look! I, ^(A)Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves ^(B)circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ And I ^(C)testify again to every man who has himself ^(D)circumcised, that he is obligated to ^(E)keep the whole Law. ⁴ You have been severed from Christ, you who ^[a]are seeking to be justified by the ^[b]Law; you have ^(F)fallen from grace. ⁵ For we, ^[c]through the Spirit, ^[d]by faith, are ^(G)waiting for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in ^(H)Christ Jesus ^(I)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but ^(J)faith working through love.

⁷ You were ^(K)running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion did not come from ^(L)Him who calls you. ^9 (M)A little ^[e]leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. ^10 (N)I have confidence ^[f]in you in the Lord, that you ^(O)will adopt no other view; but the one who is ^(P)disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is. ¹¹ But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still ^(Q)persecuted? Then ^(R)the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. ¹² I wish that ^(S)those who are troubling you would even ^[g](T)emasculate themselves.

¹³ For you were called to ^(U)freedom, brothers and sisters; ^(V)only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but ^(W)serve one another through love. ¹⁴ For ^(X)the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “^(Y)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you ^(Z)bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, ^(AA)walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out ^(AB)the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(AC)the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, ^(AD)in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are ^(AE)led by the Spirit, ^(AF)you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: ^(AG)sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, ²⁰ idolatry, ^(AH)witchcraft, hostilities, ^(AI)strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, ^(AJ)selfish ambition, dissensions, ^(AK)factions, ²¹ envy, ^(AL)drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not ^(AM)inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But ^(AN)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(AO)love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, ^(AP)self-control; against such things ^(AQ)there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who ^[h]belong to ^(AR)Christ Jesus ^(AS)crucified the flesh with its passions and ^(AT)desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow ^(AU)the Spirit as well. ²⁶ Let’s not become ^(AV)boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Damascus and Samaria Fall

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(A)write on it ^[a]in ordinary letters: ^[b](B)Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ² And ^[c]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(C)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 ^[d](D)Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴ for ^(E)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of ^(F)Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵ Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

A Believing Remnant

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

^16 (AE)Bind up the testimony, ^(AF)seal the ^[q]Law among ^(AG)my disciples. ¹⁷ And I will ^(AH)wait for the Lord ^(AI)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him. ^18 (AJ)Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for ^(AK)signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of armies, who ^(AL)dwells on Mount Zion.

John the Baptist’s Last Testimony

²² After these things Jesus and His ^(A)disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and ^(B)baptizing. ²³ Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— ²⁴ for ^(C)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^[a](D)purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “^(E)Rabbi, He who was with you ^(F)beyond the Jordan, to whom you ^(G)have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” ²⁷ John replied, “^(H)A person can receive not even one thing unless it ^(I)has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves ^[b]are my witnesses that I said, ‘^(J)I am not the ^[c]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is ^(K)the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this ^(L)joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ He must ^[d]increase, but I must ^[e]decrease.

³¹ “^(M)He who comes from above is above all; ^(N)the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. ^(O)He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² What He has seen and heard, of this He ^(P)testifies; and ^(Q)no one accepts His testimony. ³³ The one who has accepted His testimony ^(R)has certified that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God ^(S)sent speaks the words of God; ^(T)for He does not give the Spirit ^[f]sparingly. ^35 (U)The Father loves the Son and ^(V)has entrusted all things to His hand. ³⁶ The one who ^(W)believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who ^(X)does not ^[g]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”