Isaiah 7:14-9:6

English Standard Version

¹⁴Therefore the ^(A)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(B)Behold, the ^(C)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(D)Immanuel.^[a] ¹⁵He shall eat ^(E)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶^(F)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(G)deserted. ¹⁷^(H)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(I)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will ^(J)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(K)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[b]

²⁰In that day ^(L)the Lord will ^(M)shave with a razor that is ^(N)hired beyond ^(O)the River^[c]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹^(P)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²²and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(Q)curds and honey.

²³In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[d] of silver, will become ^(R)briers and thorns. ²⁴^(S)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ²⁵^(T)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(U)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(V)and write on it in common characters,^[e] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^[f] ²And ^(W)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(X)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

³And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^(Y)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴^(Z)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(AA)wealth of ^(AB)Damascus and the spoil of ^(AC)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶“Because this people has refused the waters of ^(AD)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(AE)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(AF)the waters of ^(AG)the River,^[g] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(AH)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^(AI)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(AJ)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(AK)O Immanuel.”

⁹Be broken,^[h] you peoples, and ^(AL)be shattered;^[i]
    give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
    strap on your armor and be shattered.
¹⁰Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
    speak a word, ^(AM)but it will not stand,
    for God ^(AN)is with us.^[j]

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(AO)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹²“Do not call ^(AP)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(AQ)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³But the Lord of hosts, ^(AR)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴And he will become a ^(AS)sanctuary and ^(AT)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵And many ^(AU)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶Bind up ^(AV)the testimony; ^(AW)seal the teaching^[k] among my disciples. ¹⁷I will ^(AX)wait for the Lord, who is ^(AY)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸^(AZ)Behold, I and ^(BA)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(BB)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(BC)the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰^(BD)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(BE)dawn. ²¹They will pass through the land,^[l] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[m] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ²²^(BF)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(BG)thick darkness.

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[n] But there will be no ^(BH)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(BI)brought into contempt the land of ^(BJ)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(BK)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[o]

²^[p] ^(BL)The people ^(BM)who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ^(BN)deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
³^(BO)You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with ^(BP)joy at the harvest,
    as they ^(BQ)are glad ^(BR)when they divide the spoil.
⁴^(BS)For the yoke of his burden,
    ^(BT)and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as ^(BU)on the day of Midian.
⁵^(BV)For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶^(BW)For to us a child is born,
    to us ^(BX)a son is given;
^(BY)and the government shall be ^(BZ)upon^[q] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called^[r]
Wonderful ^(CA)Counselor, ^(CB)Mighty God,
    ^(CC)Everlasting ^(CD)Father, Prince of ^(CE)Peace.