² When it was reported to the ^(A)house of David, saying, “The Arameans ^(B)have taken a stand by ^(C)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 ^[a]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(D)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the ^[b]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and be ^(E)calm, have no ^(F)fear and ^(G)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering ^(H)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(I)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(J)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let’s go up against Judah and ^[c]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 ^[d]God says: “^(K)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(L)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. ^(M)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^[e]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask for a ^(N)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[f]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[g]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” ¹³ Then he said, “Listen now, ^(O)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^[h]try the patience of men, that you will ^[i](P)try the patience of ^(Q)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(R)the ^[j]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^[k](S)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^[l](T)curds and honey ^[m]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (U)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(V)the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[a]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[c](C)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(E)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[e]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[f]took place so that what was ^(G)spoken by the Lord through ^[g]the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “^(H)Behold, the virgin will ^[h](I)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him ^[i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(J)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she ^(K)gave birth to a Son; and ^(L)he named Him Jesus.