Isaiah 7

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.

Footnotes

Isaiah 7:1 Lit fight against
Isaiah 7:3 I.e., a remnant shall return
Isaiah 7:3 I.e., launderer’s
Isaiah 7:6 Or demolish
Isaiah 7:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 7:9 Or endure
Isaiah 7:11 As in most ancient versions; MT make the request deep or high
Isaiah 7:11 Lit heights
Isaiah 7:13 Lit make men weary
Isaiah 7:13 Lit make my God weary
Isaiah 7:14 As in LXX; MT young unmarried woman
Isaiah 7:14 I.e., God is with us
Isaiah 7:15 Possibly butter
Isaiah 7:15 Lit with respect to his knowing
Isaiah 7:18 Or mouth of the rivers; i.e., the Nile Delta
Isaiah 7:19 Or wadis
Isaiah 7:22 Possibly butter
Isaiah 7:22 Possibly butter
Isaiah 7:25 Lit pastureland of

Psalm 32

New American Standard Bible

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

A Psalm of David. A ^[a]Maskil.

32 ^(A)How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
²How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord ^(B)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is ^(C)no deceit!

³When ^(D)I kept silent about my sin, ^(E)my ^[b]body wasted away
Through my ^[c]^(F)groaning all day long.
⁴For day and night ^(G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My ^[d]^(H)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
⁵I ^(I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And I ^(J)did not hide my guilt;
I said, “^(K)I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You ^(L)forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
⁶Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You ^[e]^(M)in a time when You may be found;
Certainly ^(N)in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
⁷You are ^(O)my hiding place; You ^(P)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with ^[f]^(Q)songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will ^(R)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you ^(S)with My eye upon you.
⁹Do not be ^(T)like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
¹⁰The ^(U)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But ^(V)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
¹¹Be ^(W)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are ^(X)upright in heart.

Footnotes

Psalm 32 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
Psalm 32:3 Or bones, substance
Psalm 32:3 Lit roaring
Psalm 32:4 Lit life juices were turned into the drought of summer
Psalm 32:6 Lit in a time of finding out
Psalm 32:7 Or shouts

Matthew 16:1-12

New American Standard Bible

Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(A)The ^(B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(C)asked Him to show them a ^[a]sign from heaven. ²But He replied to them, “^[b]^(D)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(E)You know how to discern the ^[c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ⁴^(F)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[d]sign; and so a ^[e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(G)beware of the ^[f]leaven of the ^(H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(I)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰Nor ^(K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(L)beware of the ^[g]leaven of the ^(M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[h]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(N)Pharisees and Sadducees.