Isaiah 6-7
New American Standard Bible
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,
“(G)Woe to me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of (H)unclean lips,
And I live among a (I)people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the (J)King, the Lord of armies.”
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:
‘Keep on (P)listening, but do not understand;
And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’
10 (Q)Make the hearts of this people [d](R)insensitive,
Their ears [e]dull,
And their eyes [f]blind,
(S)So that they will not see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, (T)how long?” And He answered,
“Until (U)cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
12 The Lord has (V)completely removed people,
And there [g]are many (W)forsaken places in the midst of the land.
13 Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an (X)oak
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
The (Y)holy seed is its stump.”
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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 6:3 Lit fullness of the whole earth is His glory
- Isaiah 6:4 Lit door sockets
- Isaiah 6:4 Lit house
- Isaiah 6:10 Lit fat
- Isaiah 6:10 Lit heavy
- Isaiah 6:10 Lit sealed over
- Isaiah 6:12 Or forsakenness will be great
- 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
Isaiah 6-7
New Living Translation
Isaiah’s Cleansing and Call
6 It was in the year King Uzziah died[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,
‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
and turn to me for healing.”[b]
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”
And he replied,
“Until their towns are empty,
their houses are deserted,
and the whole country is a wasteland;
12 until the Lord has sent everyone away,
and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,
it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”
A Message for Ahaz
7 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria[c] and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.
2 The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel[d] against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub[e] and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.[f] 4 Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah. 5 Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying, 6 ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’ 7 But this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“This invasion will never happen;
it will never take place;
8 for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
it will be crushed and completely destroyed.
9 Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.[g]”
12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[h] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). 15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt[i] and honey. 16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
17 “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”
18 In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. 19 They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. 20 In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River[j]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.[k]
21 In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. 22 Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. 23 In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver,[l] will become patches of briers and thorns. 24 The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. 25 No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.
Footnotes
- 6:1 King Uzziah died in 740 B.c.
- 6:9-10 Greek version reads And he said, “Go and say to this people, / ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. / When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.’ / For the hearts of these people are hardened, / and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— / so their eyes cannot see, / and their ears cannot hear, / and their hearts cannot understand, / and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.” Compare Matt 13:14-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; Acts 28:26-27.
- 7:1 Hebrew Aram; also in 7:2, 4, 5, 8.
- 7:2 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 7:5, 8, 9, 17.
- 7:3a Shear-jashub means “A remnant will return.”
- 7:3b Or bleached.
- 7:11 Hebrew as deep as Sheol.
- 7:14 Or young woman.
- 7:15 Or curds; also in 7:22.
- 7:20a Hebrew the river.
- 7:20b Hebrew shave off the head, the hair of the legs, and the beard.
- 7:23 Hebrew 1,000 [shekels] of silver, about 25 pounds or 11.4 kilograms in weight.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
