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. 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.”
18 On 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. 19 They 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.
20 On 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.
21 Now on that day a person may keep alive only a (AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; 22 and 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.
23 And 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. 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 [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
Isaiah 7
Christian Standard Bible
The Message to Ahaz
7 This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah:(A) Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah went to fight against Jerusalem,(B) but they were not able to conquer it.
2 When it became known to the house of David(C) that Aram had occupied Ephraim,(D) the heart of Ahaz[a] and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
3 The Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub[b](E) to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,(F) by the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly(G) because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, 6 ‘Let’s go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”
7 This is what the Lord God says:
It will not happen; it will not occur.(H)
8 The chief city of Aram is Damascus,
the chief of Damascus is Rezin
(within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
9 the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign(I) from the Lord your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
13 Isaiah(J) said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?(K) 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: See, the virgin will conceive,[d] have a son, and name him Immanuel.[e](L) 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good,(M) he will be eating curds[f] and honey.(N) 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah:(O) He will bring the king of Assyria.”(P)
18 On that day(Q)
the Lord will whistle(R) to flies
at the farthest streams of the Nile
and to bees in the land of Assyria.
19 All of them will come and settle
in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,(S)
in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.
20 On that day the Lord will use a razor(T) hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria(U)—to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.
21 On that day
a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22 and from the abundant milk they give
he will eat curds,
for every survivor in the land will eat curds and honey.(V)
23 And on that day
every place where there were a thousand vines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.(W)
24 A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25 You will not go to all the hills
that were once tilled with a hoe,
for fear of the thorns and briers.
Those hills will be places for oxen to graze
and for sheep to trample.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.