Old/New Testament

The Sign of Immanuel

7 Ahaz was king of Judah. Rezin was king of Aram. And Pekah was king of Israel. Rezin and Pekah marched up to fight against Jerusalem. But they couldn’t overpower it. Ahaz was the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah. Pekah was the son of Remaliah.

² The royal family of Ahaz was told, “The army of Aram has joined forces with Ephraim’s army.” So the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled with fear. They shook just as trees in the forest shake when the wind blows through them.

³ The Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out and see Ahaz. Take your son Shear-Jashub with you. Meet Ahaz at the end of the channel that brings water from the Upper Pool. It is on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ⁴ Tell Ahaz, ‘Be careful. Stay calm. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope because of the great anger of Rezin, Aram and the son of Remaliah. After all, they are nothing but two pieces of smoking firewood. ⁵ Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have planned to destroy you. They said, ⁶ “Let’s march into Judah and attack it. Let’s tear everything down. Then we can share the land among ourselves. And we can make Tabeel’s son king over it.” ⁷ But I am the Lord and King. I say,

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Ahaz through Isaiah again. He said, ¹¹ “I am the Lord your God. Ask me to give you a sign. It can be anything in the deepest grave or in the highest heaven.”

¹² But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t test the Lord.”

¹³ Then Isaiah said, “Listen, you members of the royal family of David! Isn’t it enough for you to test the patience of human beings? Are you also going to test the patience of my God? ¹⁴ The Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will still be very young when he can decide between right and wrong. ¹⁶ Even before then, the lands of the two kings you fear will be ruined. ¹⁷ The Lord will also bring the king of Assyria against you. And he will bring him against your people and the whole royal family. That will be a time of trouble. It will be unlike any since the people of Ephraim broke away from Judah.”

The Lord Uses Assyria to Judge Judah

¹⁸ At that time the Lord will whistle for the Egyptians. They will come like flies from the Nile River in Egypt. He will also whistle for the Assyrians. They will come from their country like bees. ¹⁹ All of them will come and camp in the deep valleys. They will camp in caves in the rocks. And they’ll camp near bushes and water holes. ²⁰ At that time the Lord will use the Assyrians to punish you. Ahaz had hired them earlier from east of the Euphrates River. Now their king will be like a razor in the Lord’s hand. He will shave the hair from your head and private parts. He will also shave off your beards. ²¹ At that time a person may only be able to keep alive one young cow and two goats. ²² But they will give plenty of milk to live on. In fact, everyone left in the land will only have milk curds and honey to eat. ²³ The land used to have vineyards with 1,000 vines worth 25 pounds of silver. But soon the whole land will be covered with thorns and bushes. ²⁴ Hunters will go there with bows and arrows. That’s because it will be covered with bushes and thorns. ²⁵ All the hills used to be plowed with hoes. But you won’t go there anymore. That’s because you will be afraid of the thorns and bushes. Cattle will be turned loose on those hills. Sheep will also run there.

Isaiah and His Children Are Signs

8 The Lord said to me, “Get a large sheet of paper. Write ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ on it with a pen.” ² So I sent for Zechariah and Uriah the priest. Zechariah is the son of Jeberekiah. Zechariah and Uriah were witnesses for me whom I could trust. ³ Then I went and slept with my wife, who was a prophet. She became pregnant and had a baby boy. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ⁴ The king of Assyria will carry off the wealth of Damascus. He will also carry away the goods that were taken from Samaria. That will happen before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother.’ ”

⁵ The Lord continued,

¹¹ The Lord speaks to me while his powerful hand is on me. He is warning me not to live the way these people live. He says,

¹⁸ Here I am. Here are the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and reminders to Israel from the Lord who rules over all. He lives on Mount Zion.

The Darkness Turns to Light

¹⁹ There are people who get messages from those who have died. But these people only whisper words that are barely heard. Suppose someone tells you to ask for advice from these people. Shouldn’t you ask for advice from your God instead? Why should you get advice from dead people to help those who are alive? ²⁰ Follow what the Lord taught you and said to you through me. People who don’t speak in keeping with these words will have no hope in the morning. ²¹ They will suffer and be hungry. They’ll wander through the land. When they are very hungry, they will become angry. They’ll look up toward heaven. They’ll ask for bad things to happen to their king and their God. ²² Then they will look at the earth. They’ll see nothing but suffering and darkness. They’ll see terrible sadness. They’ll be driven into total darkness.

God Has Given Us New Life Through Christ

2 You were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead. ² You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at work in those who don’t obey God. ³ At one time we all lived among them. Our desires were controlled by sin. We tried to satisfy what they wanted us to do. We followed our desires and thoughts. God was angry with us like he was with everyone else. That’s because of the kind of people we all were. ⁴ But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. ⁵ So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God’s grace has saved you. ⁶ God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom. That’s because we belong to Christ Jesus. ⁷ He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to come. His grace can’t be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being kind to us. He was kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. ⁸ God’s grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn’t come from anything you do. It is God’s gift. ⁹ It is not based on anything you have done. No one can brag about earning it. ¹⁰ We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.

God’s New Family of Jews and Gentiles

¹¹ You who are not Jews by birth, here is what I want you to remember. You are called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “circumcised.” But they have only been circumcised in their bodies by human hands. ¹² Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled his blood for you. This has brought you near to God.

¹⁴ Christ himself is our peace. He has made Jews and Gentiles into one group of people. He has destroyed the hatred that was like a wall between us. ¹⁵ Through his body on the cross, Christ set aside the law with all its commands and rules. He planned to create one new people out of Jews and Gentiles. He wanted to make peace between them. ¹⁶ He planned to bring both Jews and Gentiles back to God as one body. He planned to do this through the cross. On that cross, Christ put to death their hatred toward one another. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away. He also preached peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ Through Christ we both come to the Father by the power of one Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ So you are no longer outsiders and strangers. You are citizens together with God’s people. You are also members of God’s family. ²⁰ You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building. ²¹ The whole building is held together by him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. ²² And because you belong to him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a house where God lives through his Spirit.