Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz(A)

Now it came to pass in the days of (B)Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against (C)it, but could not [a]prevail against it. And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are [b]deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and [c]Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him: [d]‘Take heed, and [e]be (D)quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and [f]trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— thus says the Lord God:

(E)“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
(F)For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be [g]broken,
So that it will not be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
(G)If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

The Immanuel Prophecy

10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 (H)“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; [h]ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (I)Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear (J)a Son, and shall call His name (K)Immanuel.[i] 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 (L)For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by (M)both her kings. 17 (N)The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that (O)Ephraim departed from Judah.”

18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord (P)will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in (Q)the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.

20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a (R)hired (S)razor,
With those from beyond [j]the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.

21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
(T)It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.

Assyria Will Invade the Land

Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and (U)write on it with a man’s pen concerning [k]Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, (V)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; (W)for before the child [l]shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ (X)the riches of Damascus and the [m]spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:

“Inasmuch as these people refused
The waters of (Y)Shiloah that flow softly,
And rejoice (Z)in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
The waters of [n]the River, strong and mighty—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
He will [o]go up over all his channels
And go over all his banks.
He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
(AA)He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will [p]fill the breadth of Your land, O (AB)Immanuel.[q]

“Be(AC) shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 (AD)Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, (AE)but it will not stand,
(AF)For [r]God is with us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with [s]a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their [t]threats, nor be [u]troubled.
13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
14 (AG)He will be as a [v]sanctuary,
But (AH)a stone of stumbling and a rock of [w]offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall (AI)stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and [x]taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait on the Lord,
Who (AJ)hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I (AK)will hope in Him.
18 (AL)Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!
We (AM)are for signs and wonders in Israel
From the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells in Mount Zion.

19 And when they say to you, (AN)“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, (AO)who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they (AP)seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (AQ)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because (AR)there[y] is no light in them.

21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and (AS)curse [z]their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.

The Government of the Promised Son(AT)

Nevertheless (AU)the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at (AV)first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And (AW)afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
(AX)The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation
And [aa]increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice (AY)when they divide the spoil.
For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of (AZ)Midian.
For every warrior’s [ab]sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
(BA)Will be used for burning and fuel [ac]of fire.

(BB)For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a (BC)Son is given;
And (BD)the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
(BE)Wonderful, Counselor, (BF)Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, (BG)Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
(BH)There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The (BI)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 7:1 conquer it
  2. Isaiah 7:2 Lit. settled upon
  3. Isaiah 7:3 Lit. A Remnant Shall Return
  4. Isaiah 7:4 Be careful
  5. Isaiah 7:4 be calm
  6. Isaiah 7:6 cause a sickening dread
  7. Isaiah 7:8 Lit. shattered
  8. Isaiah 7:11 Lit. make the request deep or make it high above
  9. Isaiah 7:14 Lit. God-With-Us
  10. Isaiah 7:20 The Euphrates
  11. Isaiah 8:1 Lit. Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty
  12. Isaiah 8:4 knows how
  13. Isaiah 8:4 plunder
  14. Isaiah 8:7 The Euphrates
  15. Isaiah 8:7 Overflow
  16. Isaiah 8:8 Lit. be the fullness of
  17. Isaiah 8:8 Lit. God-With-Us
  18. Isaiah 8:10 Heb. Immanuel
  19. Isaiah 8:11 Mighty power
  20. Isaiah 8:12 Lit. fear or terror
  21. Isaiah 8:12 Lit. in dread
  22. Isaiah 8:14 holy abode
  23. Isaiah 8:14 stumbling over
  24. Isaiah 8:15 captured
  25. Isaiah 8:20 Or they have no dawn
  26. Isaiah 8:21 Or by their king and by their God
  27. Isaiah 9:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., Vg. not increased joy; LXX Most of the people You brought down in Your joy
  28. Isaiah 9:5 boot
  29. Isaiah 9:5 for the fire

And it cometh to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, gone up hath Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to Jerusalem, to battle against it, and he is not able to fight against it.

And it is declared to the house of David, saying, `Aram hath been led towards Ephraim,' And his heart and the heart of his people is moved, like the moving of trees of a forest by the presence of wind.

And Jehovah saith unto Isaiah, `Go forth, I pray thee, to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-Jashub thy son, unto the end of the conduit of the upper pool, unto the highway of the fuller's field,

and thou hast said unto him: `Take heed, and be quiet, fear not, And let not thy heart be timid, Because of these two tails of smoking brands, For the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram, And the son of Remaliah.

Because that Aram counselled against thee evil, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying:

We go up into Judah, and we vex it, And we rend it unto ourselves, And we cause a king to reign in its midst -- The son of Tabeal.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: It doth not stand, nor shall it be!

For the head of Aram [is] Damascus, And the head of Damascus [is] Rezin, And within sixty and five years Is Ephraim broken from [being] a people.

And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria, And the head of Samaria [is] the son of Remaliah. If ye do not give credence, Surely ye are not stedfast.'

10 And Jehovah addeth to speak unto Ahaz, saying:

11 `Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God, Make deep the request, or make [it] high upwards.'

12 And Ahaz saith, `I do not ask nor try Jehovah.'

13 And he saith, `Hear, I pray you, O house of David, Is it a little thing for you to weary men, That ye weary also my God?

14 Therefore the Lord Himself giveth to you a sign, Lo, the Virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a son, And hath called his name Immanuel,

15 Butter and honey he doth eat, When he knoweth to refuse evil, and to fix on good.

16 For before the youth doth know To refuse evil, and to fix on good, Forsaken is the land thou art vexed with, because of her two kings.

17 Jehovah bringeth on thee, and on thy people, And on the house of thy father, Days that have not come, Even from the day of the turning aside of Ephraim from Judah, By the king of Asshur.

18 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah doth hiss for a fly that [is] in the extremity of the brooks of Egypt, And for a bee that [is] in the land of Asshur.

19 And they have come, and rested all of them in the desolate valleys, And in holes of the rocks, and on all the thorns, And on all the commendable things.

20 In that day doth the Lord shave, By a razor that is hired beyond the river, By the king of Asshur, The head, and the hair of the feet, Yea, also the beard it consumeth.

21 And it hath come to pass, in that day, A man keepeth alive a heifer of the herd, And two of the flock,

22 And it hath come to pass, From the abundance of the yielding of milk he eateth butter, For butter and honey doth every one eat Who is left in the heart of the land.

23 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Every place where there are a thousand vines, At a thousand silverlings, Is for briers and for thorns.

24 With arrows and with bow he cometh thither, Because all the land is brier and thorn.

25 And all the hills that with a mattock are kept in order, Thither cometh not the fear of brier and thorn, And it hath been for the sending forth of ox, And for the treading of sheep!'

And Jehovah saith unto me, `Take to thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a graving tool of man, To haste spoil, enjoy prey.'

And I cause faithful witnesses to testify to me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

And I draw near unto the prophetess, and she conceiveth, and beareth a son; and Jehovah saith unto me, `Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

for before the youth doth know to cry, My father, and My mother, one taketh away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.'

And Jehovah addeth to speak unto me again, saying:

`Because that this people hath refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

Therefore, lo, the Lord is bringing up on them, The waters of the river, the mighty and the great, (The king of Asshur, and all his glory,) And it hath gone up over all its streams, And hath gone on over all its banks.

And it hath passed on into Judah, It hath overflown and passed over, Unto the neck it cometh, And the stretching out of its wings Hath been the fulness of the breadth of thy land, O Emmanu-El!

Be friends, O nations, and be broken, And give ear, all ye far off ones of earth, Gird yourselves, and be broken, Gird yourselves, and be broken.

10 Take counsel, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it doth not stand, Because of Emmanu-El!'

11 For thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me with strength of hand, and instructeth me against walking in the way of this people, saying,

12 `Ye do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people saith, A confederacy, And its fear ye do not fear, Nor declare fearful.

13 Jehovah of Hosts -- Him ye do sanctify, And He [is] your Fear, and He your Dread,

14 And He hath been for a sanctuary, And for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, To the two houses of Israel, For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them have stumbled and fallen, And been broken, and snared, and captured.

16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among My disciples.

17 And I have waited for Jehovah, Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, And I have looked for Him.

18 Lo, I, and the children whom Jehovah hath given to me, [Are] for signs and for wonders in Israel, From Jehovah of Hosts, who is dwelling in Mount Zion.

19 And when they say unto you, `Seek unto those having familiar spirits, And unto wizards, who chatter and mutter, Doth not a people seek unto its God? -- For the living unto the dead!

20 To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, `That there is no dawn to it.'

21 -- And it hath passed over into it, hardened and hungry, And it hath come to pass, That it is hungry, and hath been wroth, And made light of its king, and of its God, And hath looked upwards.

22 And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! -- Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

As the former time made light The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, So the latter hath honoured the way of the sea, Beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who are walking in darkness Have seen a great light, Dwellers in a land of death-shade, Light hath shone upon them.

Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast made great its joy, They have joyed before Thee as the joy in harvest, As [men] rejoice in their apportioning spoil.

Because the yoke of its burden, And the staff of its shoulder, the rod of its exactor, Thou hast broken as [in] the day of Midian.

For every battle of a warrior [is] with rushing, and raiment rolled in blood, And it hath been for burning -- fuel of fire.

For a Child hath been born to us, A Son hath been given to us, And the princely power is on his shoulder, And He doth call his name Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.

To the increase of the princely power, And of peace, there is no end, On the throne of David, and on his kingdom, To establish it, and to support it, In judgment and in righteousness, Henceforth, even unto the age, The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts doth this.