Isaiah 7

Modern

Literal

A Message to Ahaz

¹Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram^a marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.

¹And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that came up Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to Jerusalem to war against it. He was not able to fight against it.

²When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim,^a the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.

²And it was declared to the house of David, saying, Aram has rested itself upon Ephraim. His heart and the heart of his people was shaken, as are shaken the trees of the forest from the face of the wind.

³Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub^a to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,

³And YHWH said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, toward the end of the conduit of the upper pool, toward the road of the Field of the Washer.

⁴and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.

⁴And say to him: Take heed and be quiet. Do not be afraid and do not be soft because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, with the burning of the anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah,

⁵For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:

⁵because indeed Aram has plotted evil against you, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying,

⁶‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it^a among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’

⁶‘Let us go up against Judah and treat it with contempt and split it apart unto ourselves, and in its midst we will make the son of Tabeal reign as king.’

⁷But this is what the Lord GOD says:

‘It will not arise;

it will not happen.

⁷Thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘It will not stand, and it will not come to pass.

⁸For the head of Aram is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be shattered as a people.

⁸For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people.

⁹The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,

then you will not stand at all.’”

⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in faith, surely you will not stand firm.’”

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,

¹⁰And YHWH continued to speak to Ahaz, saying,

¹¹“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”

¹¹“Ask for yourself a sign from YHWH your God; make the request deep, or make it high above.”

¹²But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”

¹²And Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not test YHWH.”

¹³Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?

¹³And he said, “Hear now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that you would also weary my God?

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin^a will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.^b

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give to you a sign: Behold the virgin is conceiving and is bringing forth a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

¹⁵By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.

¹⁵Curds and honey he will eat, when he knows to refuse the evil and to choose the good.

¹⁶For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

¹⁶For before the youth knows to reject the evil and to choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken because of the two of her kings.

Judgment to Come

¹⁷The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

¹⁷YHWH will bring upon you and upon your people and upon the house of your father days that have not come since the day of the turning away of Ephraim from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.

¹⁸And it will come to pass in that day, that YHWH will whistle for the fly that is at the farthest of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹And they will all come and settle

in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks,

in all the thornbushes and watering holes.

¹⁹And they will come and all of them will rest in the desolate valleys and in holes of the rocks, and on all the thorns and on all the watering holes.

²⁰On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—^athe king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

²⁰In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired—with those beyond the River, with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the legs and also the beard He will sweep away.

²¹On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,

²¹And it will come to pass in that day, that a man will keep alive a young cow of the herd and two sheep.

²²and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.

²²And it will come to pass from the abundance of producing milk, that he will eat curds—for everyone remaining in the midst of the land will eat curds and honey.

²³And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver,^a only briers and thorns will be found.

²³And it will come to pass in that day that there will be in every place where there are a thousand vines at a thousand of silver—there will be briers and thorns.

²⁴Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.

²⁴He comes there with arrows and with the bow, for all the land will become briers and thorns.

²⁵For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.

²⁵And all the hills that are kept in order with the hoe there, you will no longer go for fear of brier and thorn; and it will become for the sending forth of cattle and for the treading of sheep.