Isaiah 7
New Living Translation
A Message for Ahaz
7 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria[a] 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[b] 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[c] 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.[d] 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.[e]”
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[f] 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[g] 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[h]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.[i]
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,[j] 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
- 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.
Isaiah 7
Living Bible
7 During the reign of Ahaz (the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah), Jerusalem was attacked by King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel (the son of Remaliah). But it was not taken; the city stood. 2 However, when the news came to the royal court, “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear as the trees of a forest shake in a storm.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet King Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub, your son. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that leads from Gihon Spring to the upper reservoir, near the road that leads down to the bleaching field. 4 Tell him to quit worrying. Tell him he needn’t be frightened by the fierce anger of those two has-beens, Rezin and Pekah. 5 Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are coming against you.
“They say, 6 ‘We will invade Judah and throw her people into panic. Then we’ll fight our way into Jerusalem and install the son of Tabeel as their king.’
7 “But the Lord God says: This plan will not succeed, 8 for Damascus will remain the capital of Syria alone, and King Rezin’s kingdom will not increase its boundaries. And within sixty-five years Ephraim, too, will be crushed and broken.[a] 9 Samaria is the capital of Ephraim alone, and King Pekah’s power will not increase. You don’t believe me? If you want me to protect you, you must learn to believe what I say.”
10 Not long after this, the Lord sent this further message to King Ahaz:
11 “Ask me for a sign, Ahaz, to prove that I will indeed crush your enemies as I have said. Ask anything you like, in heaven or on earth.”[b]
12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I’ll not bother the Lord with anything like that.”
13 Then Isaiah said: O House of David, you aren’t satisfied to exhaust my patience; you exhaust the Lord’s as well! 14 All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign—a child shall be born to a virgin![c] And she shall call him Immanuel (meaning, “God is with us”). 15-16 By the time this child is weaned[d] and knows right from wrong, the two kings you fear so much—the kings of Israel and Syria—will both be dead.
17 But later on,[e] the Lord will bring a terrible curse on you and on your nation and your family. There will be terror such as has not been known since the division of Solomon’s empire into Israel and Judah—the mighty king of Assyria will come with his great army!
18 At that time the Lord will whistle for the army of Upper Egypt,[f] and of Assyria too, to swarm down upon you like flies and destroy you, like bees to sting and to kill. 19 They will come in vast hordes, spreading across the whole land, even into the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny parts, as well as to all your fertile acres. 20 In that day the Lord will take this “razor”—these Assyrians you have hired to save you[g]—and use it on you to shave off everything you have: your land, your crops, your people.
21-22 When they finally stop plundering, the whole nation will be a pastureland; whole flocks and herds will be destroyed, and a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep left. But the abundant pastureland will yield plenty of milk, and everyone left will live on curds and wild honey. 23 At that time the lush vineyards will become patches of briars. 24 All the land will be one vast thornfield, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. 25 No one will go to the fertile hillsides where once the gardens grew, for thorns will cover them; cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 7:8 Ephraim, too, will be crushed and broken. Samaria, the capital of “Ephraim,” fell to the Assyrian armies in 722 B.C., thirteen years after this oracle—ending the Northern Kingdom.
- Isaiah 7:11 Ask anything you like, in heaven or on earth, literally, “Let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
- Isaiah 7:14 a child shall be born to a virgin. The controversial Hebrew word used here sometimes means “virgin” and sometimes “young woman.” Its immediate use here refers to Isaiah’s young wife and her newborn son (8:1-4). This, of course, was not a virgin birth. God’s sign was that before this child was old enough to talk (v. 4), the two invading kings would be destroyed. However, the Gospel of Matthew (1:23) tells us that there was a further fulfillment of this prophecy, in that a virgin (Mary) conceived and bore a son, Immanuel, the Christ. We have therefore properly used this higher meaning, “virgin,” in v. 14, as otherwise the Matthew account loses its significance.
- Isaiah 7:15 By the time this child is weaned, literally, “For before this child shall know [is old enough] to refuse evil and to choose the good . . . and [is old enough to] eat curds and honey.” the kings of Israel and Syria, implied. will both be dead, or “the lands will be deserted [of their kings].”
- Isaiah 7:17 But later on, implied.
- Isaiah 7:18 the army of Upper Egypt, literally, “the sources of the streams of Egypt” refers to Upper Egypt where the powerful 25th Ethiopian Dynasty would soon arise.
- Isaiah 7:20 hired to save you, see 2 Kings 16:7-8. your land, your crops, your people, literally, “head hair, beard, body hair.”
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.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.