Isaiah 7
7
Chapter 7
God's message for King Ahaz
1Ahaz became the king of Judah. He was the son of Jotham. Jotham was the son of Uzziah.
While Ahaz was Judah's king, King Rezin of Syria and Remaliah's son, King Pekah of Israel, attacked Jerusalem. But they could not get into the city. 2People gave this news to Judah's royal family. They said, ‘The armies of Syria and Ephraim have joined together to attack you.’ #7:2 Ephraim was the Israelite kingdom in the north. When they heard this, Ahaz and his people were very afraid. They shook with fear, like trees in the forest shake in the wind.
3Then the Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go out and meet Ahaz. Take your son, Shear-Jashub, with you. #7:3 ‘Shear-Jashub’ was Isaiah's older son. His name means ‘Some people will return’. Go to meet Ahaz at the end of the water stream that comes from the higher pool. That is at the field where people wash clothes.
4Say to Ahaz, “Be careful. Do not be upset or afraid. Do not let King Rezin, his people from Syria and Remaliah's son, King Pekah, make you afraid. They are very angry, but their power will soon be useless, like two bits of wood that remain after a fire. 5The rulers of Syria and Ephraim, as well as Remaliah's son, have made plans to attack you. 6They are saying, ‘We must attack Judah. We will frighten the people and we will take their country for ourselves. We will make the son of Tabeel rule there as king.’
7But I, the Almighty Lord, say this: That will never happen! 8The capital city of Syria is Damascus. And the king of Damascus is Rezin. 65 years from now Ephraim will not even be a nation. There will be nothing left! 9The capital city of Ephraim is Samaria. And the king of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you do not continue to trust me, you will not be strong enough to win.” ’
10Isaiah also gave this message from the Lord to Ahaz. 11He said, ‘Ask the Lord your God to do a miracle for you. That will show you that what he has said is true. Ask for anything, deep in the earth or high in the sky.’
12But Ahaz said, ‘I will never ask the Lord to do that. I do not want to test him.’
13So Isaiah replied, ‘Now listen, you royal family of David! You cause trouble for people like me. That is bad enough. But now you are trying to cause trouble for God himself. 14So the Lord God himself will show you that he speaks a true message. Look, the young woman who has never had sex will become pregnant. She will give birth to a son. She will call his name Immanuel. 15One day he will know how to choose good things and refuse to do evil things. By that time there will be cream and honey for him to eat. 16Even before that, the two kings that you are now afraid of will have no power. Their land will be empty.
17But the Lord will bring even greater trouble to you! It will be very bad for you, for the royal family, and for your people. Nothing as bad will have happened since Ephraim became separate from Judah. Yes, the Lord will bring the king of Assyria to attack you!’
18At that time, the Lord will call the soldiers of Egypt to come and attack you. And they will come like a crowd of flies! He will call for soldiers to come from Assyria. And they will come like a crowd of bees! 19They will all come in great crowds. They will come into the valleys, the cliffs, the holes in the rocks, the thorn bushes and the pools of water.
20At that time, the Lord will use the king of Assyria to bring trouble and pain. He will come from beyond the Euphrates river. He will be like a sharp knife that cuts off all your hair, the hair from your head, your legs and your beard.
21At that time, a farmer will have only one young cow and two goats. #7:21 ‘two goats’ or ‘two sheep’ 22They will give him a lot of milk. So he will have butter and cream to eat. Everyone who remains in the land will have milk and honey as their food. 23On that day, in every place where there had been 1,000 valuable vines, there will now be only weeds and thorn bushes. 24In the whole land there will be only weeds and thorn bushes. So men will go to shoot wild animals there with their bows and arrows. 25Nobody will go to the fields in the hills, because only thorn bushes grow there. People will be afraid to go there. They will send their cows there to eat grass. Sheep will run over the fields.
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Isaiah 7
7
1In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. 2When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” his heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go forth to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub#7.3 That is A remnant shall return your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field, 4and say to him, ‘Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabe-el as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
8For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established.’ ”
10Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14#Mt 1.23. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman#7.14 Or virgin shall conceive and bear#7.14 Or is with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el.#7.14 That is God is with us 15He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
18In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly which is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor which is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; 22and because of the abundance of milk which they give, he will eat curds; for every one that is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24With bow and arrows men will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; 25and as for all the hills which used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America