Old/New Testament
The Message to Ahaz
7 During the reign of Jotham’s son Ahaz, Uzziah’s grandson, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah’s son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem and waged war against it, but they[a] could not mount an attack against it. 2 When it was reported to the house of David, “Aram has joined forces with Ephraim!” the[b] heart of the people of Ahaz[c] trembled like forest[d] trees in a windstorm.
3 So the Lord told Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that proceeds along the highway to Launderer’s Field. 4 Tell him, ‘Be careful, be calm, don’t be afraid, and don’t lose heart because of these two smoldering stumps of torches, that is, because of[e] the fierce anger of Rezin, from Aram, and Remaliah’s son. 5 Aram, Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son have plotted this evil against you: 6 “Let’s go attack Judah, let’s terrorize it, and let’s conquer it for ourselves. Then we’ll install Tabeel’s son as king!”’
7 ‘But this is what the Lord God has to say:
“‘It won’t take place.
It won’t ever happen.
8 Because Aram’s head is Damascus,
and Rezin is its king,[f]
within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered as a people.
9 Furthermore, Ephraim’s head is Samaria,
and Remaliah’s son is its king.[g]
If all of you don’t keep on believing,
you’ll never remain loyal.’”[h]
God with Us
10 Later on, the Lord spoke to Ahaz again: 11 “Ask a sign from the Lord your God. Make it as deep as Sheol[i] or as high as heaven above.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I won’t ask! I won’t put the Lord to the test.”
13 In reply, the Lord[j] announced, “Please listen, you household of David. Is it such a minor thing for you to try the patience of[k] men? Must you also try the patience of[l] my God?
14 “Therefore the Lord[m] himself will give you a sign. Watch! The virgin[n] is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called[o] Immanuel.[p] 15 He’ll eat cheese[q] and honey, when he knows enough to reject what’s wrong and choose what’s right. 16 However, before the youth knows enough to reject what’s wrong and choose what’s right, the land whose two kings you dread will be devastated.”
Conquest by Assyria
17 “The Lord will bring to you, to your people, and to your ancestor’s house such a time[r] as has never been since Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria will come.[s]
18 “At that time,[t] the Lord will call[u] for flies that will come from far away—from the headwaters of Egypt’s rivers—and for bees that are in the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines, in the rocky crevices, in all the thorn bushes, and in all the pastures.[v] 20 At that time,[w] the Lord will hire a barber[x] to come[y] from beyond the Euphrates[z] River—that is, the king of Assyria—and he will shave your heads, your leg[aa] hair, and your beards, too.
21 “At that time,[ab] a man will keep alive a heifer and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will have cheese[ac] to eat, since whoever remains in the land will be eating cheese[ad] and honey.
23 “At that time,[ae] every place where once there were a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels[af] of silver, only briars and thorns will grow.
24 “People will come there armed with bows[ag] and arrows, because the entire land will be nothing but briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won’t go there, because you’ll fear iron[ah] briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills[ai] will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze.”[aj]
Isaiah’s Son is Born
8 The Lord also told me, “Take a large tablet and write on it with a stylus[ak] pen, ‘For Maher-shalal-hash-baz’.[al] 2 Then I will call[am] Uriah the priest and Jeberechiah’s son Zechariah as reliable witnesses to testify on my behalf.”
3 After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the Lord told me,[an] “Call him[ao] ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz,’ 4 for before the young lad knows how to call out to his father or mother,[ap] the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
Invasion by Assyria
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people have rejected the gently-flowing waters of Shiloah, and because[aq] they keep rejoicing in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, 7 watch out! The Lord God[ar] is about to bring the flood waters of the Euphrates[as] River against them, mighty and strong.[at]
“It’s the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river’s channels and run over all of its banks. 8 He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters[au] reaching up to a person’s neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!”
9 “Band together,[av] you peoples,
but be shattered!
Listen, all you distant countries!
Strap on your armor,
but be shattered.[aw]
10 Take counsel together,
but it will all be for nothing;
go ahead and talk,
but[ax] it will all be for nothing,[ay]
for God is with us.”[az]
Waiting on God
11 For[ba] this is what the Lord spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living:[bb]
12 “Don’t call conspiracy everything
that this people calls conspiracy,
and don’t fear what they fear,
or live in terror.
13 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
he’s the one you are to regard as holy.
Let him be the one whom you fear,
and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!
14 Then he will be a sanctuary,
but for both houses of Israel
he’ll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself,
a rock one stumbles over,
a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble on them;
They’ll fall and be broken;
They’ll be snared and captured.
16 “Bind up the testimony,
and seal up the teaching among my disciples.
17 I’ll wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob,
and I’ll put my trust in him.
18 Watch out! I and the children
whom the Lord has given me
are a sign and a wonder[bc] in Israel
from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
who resides on Mount Zion.”
Rejecting Occultic Wisdom
19 “So when they advise you,
‘Ask the mediums your questions,
and quiz the spiritists who chirp and mutter,’
shouldn’t a people instead be consulting their God—[bd]
and not the dead—
on behalf of those who are living
20 for instruction and for testimony?
Surely they are speaking like this
because the truth[be] hasn’t dawned on them.
21 “They’ll pass through the land,[bf]
while[bg] greatly distressed and hungry.
When they are hungry,
they’ll become enraged,
and they’ll curse their king and their god.[bh]
They’ll turn their faces upwards,
22 or they’ll look toward the[bi] earth,
but they’ll see only distress and darkness,
the gloom that comes from anguish,
and then they’ll be thrown into total darkness.”
God Has Brought Us from Death to Life
2 You used to be dead because of your offenses and sins 2 that you once practiced as you lived according to the ways of this present world and according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now active in those who are disobedient.[a] 3 Indeed, all of us once behaved like[b] them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for[c] wrath, just like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us[d] 5 even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with[e] the Messiah[f] (by grace you have been saved), 6 raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in the Messiah[g] Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the limitless riches of his grace that comes to us through his kindness in the Messiah[h] Jesus. 8 For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God 9 and not the result of actions, to put a stop to all boasting.[i] 10 For we are God’s[j] masterpiece,[k] created in the Messiah[l] Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.[m]
All Believers are One in the Messiah
11 So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth[n] were called “the uncircumcised” by those who called themselves “the circumcised.” They underwent physical circumcision done by human hands. 12 At that time you were without the Messiah,[o] excluded from citizenship in Israel,[p] and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God. 13 But now, in union with the Messiah[q] Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.[r]
14 For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality[s] he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.[t] 15 He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, 16 and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility. 17 He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near. 18 For through him, both of us[u] have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah[v] Jesus himself being the cornerstone.[w] 21 In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord. 22 You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God’s Spirit to dwell.
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