Isaiah Reassures King Ahaz

7 In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz^[a] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub,^[b] at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, ⁴ and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Aram—with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah—has plotted evil against you, saying, ⁶ Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem^[c] and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it; ⁷ therefore thus says the Lord God:

(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.)

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. ²¹ ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum,

For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ²⁴ But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.’