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,

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,

¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”

And he replied,

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:

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.

Uzziah Rules in Judah

26 All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, as king in place of his father. ² After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath^[a] and restored it to Judah.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. ⁵ Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God.^[b] And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah declared war on the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia. ⁷ God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur,^[c] and his wars with the Meunites. ⁸ The Meunites^[d] paid annual tribute to him, and his fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle in the wall. ¹⁰ He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah^[e] and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of well-trained warriors, ready to march into battle, unit by unit. This army had been mustered and organized by Jeiel, the secretary of the army, and his assistant, Maaseiah. They were under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials. ¹² These regiments of mighty warriors were commanded by 2,600 clan leaders. ¹³ The army consisted of 307,500 men, all elite troops. They were prepared to assist the king against any enemy.

¹⁴ Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and sling stones. ¹⁵ And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones^[f] from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.

Uzziah’s Sin and Punishment

¹⁶ But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷ Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. ¹⁸ They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”

¹⁹ Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy^[g] suddenly broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

²² The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³ When Uzziah died, he was buried with his ancestors; his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging to the kings, for the people said, “He had leprosy.” And his son Jotham became the next king.

Jotham Rules in Judah

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

² Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the Lord. But the people continued in their corrupt ways.

³ Jotham rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple of the Lord. He also did extensive rebuilding on the wall at the hill of Ophel. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah and constructed fortresses and towers in the wooded areas. ⁵ Jotham went to war against the Ammonites and conquered them. Over the next three years he received from them an annual tribute of 7,500 pounds^[a] of silver, 50,000 bushels of wheat, and 50,000 bushels of barley.^[b]

⁶ King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God.

⁷ The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and other activities, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. ⁹ When Jotham died, he was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz became the next king.

Greetings from Paul

¹ This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker, ² and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your^[a] house.

³ May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

⁴ I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, ⁵ because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. ⁶ And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. ⁷ Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.

Paul’s Appeal for Onesimus

⁸ That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do. ⁹ But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.^[b]

¹⁰ I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison. ¹¹ Onesimus^[c] hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us. ¹² I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

¹³ I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf. ¹⁴ But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced. ¹⁵ It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever. ¹⁶ He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹ I, PAUL, WRITE THIS WITH MY OWN HAND: I WILL REPAY IT. AND I WON’T MENTION THAT YOU OWE ME YOUR VERY SOUL!

²⁰ Yes, my brother, please do me this favor^[d] for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.

²¹ I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more! ²² One more thing—please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon.

Paul’s Final Greetings

²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. ²⁴ So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.

²⁵ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.