Isaiah 7

1 It was during the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Aram, marched to attack Jerusalem. Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, joined in the attack, but they couldn't conquer the city.

And it came to pass in the days of Achaz [the son] of Joatham, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, there came up Rasim king of Aram, and Phakee son of Romelias, king of Israel, against Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not take it.

2 When the royal family of Judah was told, “Aram and Ephraim have an alliance,” Ahaz and his people were terrified and they shook like trees in the forest tossed about by the wind.

And a message was brought to the house of David, saying, Aram has conspired with Ephraim. And his soul was amazed, and the soul of his people, as in a wood a tree is moved by the wind.

3 Then the Lord told Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub with you and go and meet Ahaz. He'll be at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, by the road to the laundry field.

And the Lord said to Esaias, Go forth to meet Achaz, thou, and thy son Jasub who is left, to the pool of the upper way of the fuller's field.

4 Tell him, ‘Calm down and keep quiet. Don't be afraid or scared over a couple of smoldering bits of firewood, over the burning anger of Rezin and Aram, and of Remaliah's son.

And thou shalt say to him, Take care to be quiet, and fear not, neither let thy soul be disheartened because of these two smoking firebrands: for when my fierce anger is over, I will heal again.

5 Aram has plotted to destroy you together with Ephraim and Remaliah's son saying,

And [as for] the son of Aram, and the son of Romelias, forasmuch as they have devised an evil counsel, [saying],

6 Let's go and attack Judah! We'll terrorize it and conquer it for ourselves, and make Tabeel's son its king.”

We will go up against Judea, and having conferred with them we will turn them away to our side, and we will make the son of Tabeel king of it;

7 But this is what the Lord God says, “This plan won't materialize—it just won't happen!

thus saith the Lord of hosts, This counsel shall not abide, nor come to pass.

8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. In addition, within sixty-five years Israel as a nation will be destroyed.

But the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasim; and yet within sixty and five years the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from [being] a people.

9 The head of Israel is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you don't trust in me, then you won't survive.”

And the head of Ephraim is Somoron, and the head of Somoron the son of Romelias: but if ye believe not, neither will ye at all understand.

10 Later the Lord sent another message to Ahaz,

And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying,

11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether as deep as where people are buried or as high as heaven.” (Sheol h7585)

Ask for thyself a sign of the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. (Sheol h7585)

12 “No, I'm not going to ask,” Ahaz replied. “I refuse to put the Lord to the test.”

And Achaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen, royal family of Judah! Isn't it enough for you to wear people out? Do you have to wear my God out too?

And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do ye contend against the Lord?

14 This is why the Lord himself is going to give you a sign. Look! The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will call him Immanuel.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.

15 He will eat curds and honey until the time he knows to refuse evil and choose the good.

Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil [or] choose the good.

16 For before the boy knows to refuse evil and choose the good, the land of the two kings you're afraid of will be deserted.

For before the child shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which thou art afraid of because of the two kings.

17 The Lord will make you, your people, and the royal family experience a time unlike anything since the day Ephraim split from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria to attack you!”

But God shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days which have never come, from the day that Ephraim took away from Juda the king of the Assyrians.

18 At that time the Lord will whistle to call flies from the distant rivers of Egypt and bees from the country of Assyria.

And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the flies, which [insect] shall rule over a part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of the Assyrians.

19 They will all come and descend on the steep valleys and rock crevices, on all the thorn bushes and waterholes.

And they all shall enter into the clefts of the land, and into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves, and into every ravine.

20 At that time the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River, the king of Assyria, to shave you from head to toe, including your beards.

In that day the Lord shall shave with the hired razor of the king of Assyria beyond the river the head, and the hairs of the feet, and will remove the beard.

21 At that time a someone who manages to keep a young cow and two sheep alive

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall rear a heifer, and two sheep.

22 will eat curds, because they produce so much milk—for everyone who survives in the land will eat curds and honey.

And it shall come to pass from their drinking an abundance of milk, [that] every one that is left on the land shall eat butter and honey.

23 At that time everywhere that once had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels will only have brambles and thorns.

And it shall come to pass in that day, [for] every place where there shall be a thousand vines at a thousand shekels, they shall become barren land and thorns.

24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows because the land will be covered with brambles and thorns.

[Men] shall enter thither with arrow and bow; for all the land shall be [barren] ground and thorns.

25 In fact, all the hills that were once tilled by the hoe you won't want to go to because you'll worry about the brambles and thorns there. They'll just be where cattle are let loose and where sheep roam.

And every mountain shall be certainly ploughed: there shall no fear come thither: for there shall be from [among] the [barren] ground and thorns that whereon cattle shall feed and oxen shall tread.