Old/New Testament

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 Now it happened in the days of ^(A)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(B)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(C)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(D)could not ^[a]conquer it. ² When it was told to the ^(E)house of David, saying, “^[b]The Arameans ^(F)have camped in ^(G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^[c]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(H)conduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the ^[d]fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and stay ^(I)quiet, have no ^(J)fear and ^(K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering ^(L)firebrands, on account of the burning anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(M)son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because ^(N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has counseled evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and ^[e]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in ^[f]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says Lord Yahweh: “^(O)It shall not stand, nor shall it happen. ⁸ For the head of Aram is ^(P)Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), ⁹ and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(Q)If you do not ^[g]establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not ^[h]be established.”’”

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Then Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask a ^(R)sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; ^[i]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[j]heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not test Yahweh!” ¹³ Then he said, “^[k]Listen now, O ^(S)house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will ^(T)try the patience of ^(U)my God as well? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(V)the ^[l]virgin ^[m]will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name ^[n](W)Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat ^(X)curds and honey ^[o]in order that He will know to refuse evil and choose good. ^16 (Y)For before the boy will know to refuse evil and choose good, ^(Z)the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. ¹⁷ Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days which have never come since the day that ^(AA)Ephraim separated from Judah—the ^(AB)king of Assyria!”

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁸ And it will be in that day, that Yahweh will ^(AC)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[p](AD)remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and rest upon the steep ^[q]ravines, on the ^(AE)crevices of the cliffs, ^(AF)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the ^[r]watering places.

²⁰ In that day, the Lord will ^(AG)shave with a ^(AH)razor—one ^(AI)hired from regions beyond ^(AJ)the ^[s]River (that is, the king of Assyria)—the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

²¹ And it will be in that day, that a man may keep alive a ^(AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced, he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat ^(AL)curds and honey.

²³ And it will be in that day, ^(AM)that every place where there used to be one thousand vines, valued at ^[t]one thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(AN)briars and thorns. ²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^[u](AO)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(AP)write on it ^[v]in ordinary letters: ^(AQ)Concerning ^[w]Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ² And ^[x]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(AR)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” ³ Then I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ^[y](AS)Maher-shalal-hash-baz, ⁴ for ^(AT)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of ^(AU)Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵ Again Yahweh spoke to me further, saying,

Yahweh, a Sanctuary and a Stumbling Stone

¹¹ For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a ^(BJ)strong hand and disciplined me ^(BK)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

^16 (BT)Bind up the testimony, ^(BU)seal the ^[ah]law among ^(BV)my disciples. ¹⁷ And I will ^(BW)wait for Yahweh ^(BX)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope for Him. ^18 (BY)Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for ^(BZ)signs and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who ^(CA)dwells on Mount Zion.

Darkness to Light Through the Prince of Peace

¹⁹ Now when they say to you, “^(CB)Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people ^(CC)inquire of their God? Should they ^(CD)inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the ^[ai](CE)law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(CF)they have no dawn. ²¹ And they will pass through ^[aj]the land ^(CG)hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse ^[ak]their king and their God as they face upward. ²² Then they will ^(CH)look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^(CI)banished into thick darkness.

By Grace Through Faith

2 And you ^[a]were ^(A)dead ^[b]in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you ^(B)formerly walked according to the ^[c]course of ^(C)this world, according to ^(D)the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in ^(E)the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom we all also ^(F)formerly conducted ourselves in ^(G)the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the ^[d]mind, and were ^(H)by nature ^(I)children of wrath, ^(J)even as the rest. ⁴ But God, being ^(K)rich in mercy because of ^(L)His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were ^(M)dead ^[e]in our transgressions, made us alive together ^[f]with Christ—^(N)by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and ^(O)raised us up with Him, and ^(P)seated us with Him in ^(Q)the heavenly places in ^(R)Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing ^(S)riches of His grace in ^(T)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(U)by grace you have been saved ^(V)through faith, and ^[g]this not of yourselves, it is ^(W)the gift of God; ^9 (X)not of works, so that ^(Y)no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, ^(Z)created in ^(AA)Christ Jesus for ^(AB)good works, which God ^(AC)prepared beforehand so that we would ^(AD)walk in them.

¹¹ Therefore, remember that ^(AE)formerly ^(AF)you—the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “^(AG)Uncircumcision” by the so-called “^(AH)Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time without Christ, ^(AI)alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to ^(AJ)the covenants of promise, having ^(AK)no hope and ^(AL)without God in the world. ¹³ But now in ^(AM)Christ Jesus you who ^(AN)formerly were ^(AO)far off ^[h]have ^(AP)been brought near ^(AQ)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is ^(AR)our peace, ^(AS)who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition ^15 [i]by ^(AT)abolishing in His flesh the enmity, ^(AU)the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might ^(AV)create the two into ^(AW)one new man, making ^(AX)peace, ¹⁶ and might ^(AY)reconcile them both in ^(AZ)one body to God through the cross, having in Himself ^(BA)put to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And ^(BB)He came and preached ^(BC)the good news of peace to you who were ^(BD)far away, and peace to those who were ^(BE)near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have ^(BF)our access in ^(BG)one Spirit to ^(BH)the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(BI)strangers and sojourners, but you are ^(BJ)fellow citizens with the ^[j]saints, and are of ^(BK)God’s household, ²⁰ having been ^(BL)built on ^(BM)the foundation of ^(BN)the apostles and prophets, ^(BO)Christ Jesus Himself being the ^(BP)corner stone, ^21 (BQ)in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into ^(BR)a holy ^[k]sanctuary in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being ^(BS)built together into a ^(BT)dwelling of God in the Spirit.