Isaiah 7

1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

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 David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with 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 Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s 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, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

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 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, 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 up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.”

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 This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”

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

8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people.

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 Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’”

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 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

And the Lord again spoke to Achaz, saying,

11 “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.” (Sheol h7585)

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

12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt Yahweh.”

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

13 He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?

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 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name 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 shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the 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 child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

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 Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria.

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 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land 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 shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.

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 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.

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 It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep.

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

22 It shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter, for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left within the land.

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 It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, will be for briers 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 there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.

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

25 All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.”

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.