Isaiah 7
7
Isaiah offers hope to King Ahaz
1Ahaz, the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah when King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went to attack Jerusalem. But they were not able to do what they had planned.#7.1 went…had planned: Or “attacked Jerusalem, but could not capture it”.#2 K 16.5; 2 Ch 28.5,6. 2When news reached the royal palace that Syria had joined forces with Israel, King Ahaz and everyone in Judah were so terrified that they shook like trees in a storm.
3Then the LORD said to me:
Take your son Shearjashub#7.3 Shearjashub: In Hebrew “Shearjashub” means “a few will return”. and go and see King Ahaz. You will find him on the road near the cloth makers' shops at the end of the canal that brings water from the upper pool. 4Tell Ahaz to stop worrying. There's no need for him to be afraid of King Rezin and King Pekah. They are very angry, but they are nothing more than a dying fire. Ahaz doesn't need to fear 5their evil threats 6to invade and defeat Judah and Jerusalem and to let the son of Tabeel be king in his place.
7I, the LORD, promise that this will never happen. 8-9Damascus is just the capital of Syria, and King Rezin rules only in Damascus. Samaria is just the capital of Israel, and King Pekah rules only in Samaria. But in less than sixty-five years, Israel will be destroyed. And if Ahaz and his officials don't trust me, they will be defeated.
A son named Immanuel
10Once again the LORD God spoke to King Ahaz. This time he said, 11“Ask me for proof that my promise will come true. Ask for something to happen deep in the world of the dead or high in the heavens above.”
12“No, LORD,” Ahaz answered. “I won't test you!”
13Then I said:
Listen, every one of you in the royal family of David. You have already tried my patience. Now you are trying God's patience by refusing to ask for proof. 14But the LORD will still give you proof. A virgin#7.14 virgin: Or “young woman”. In this context the difficult Hebrew word did not imply a virgin birth. However, in the Greek translation made about 200 BC and used by the early Christians, the word parthenos had a double meaning. While the translator took it to mean “young woman”, Matthew understood it to mean “virgin” and quoted the passage (Matthew 1.23) because it was the appropriate description of Mary, the mother of Jesus. is pregnant; she will have a son and will name him Immanuel.#7.14 Immanuel: In Hebrew “Immanuel” means “God is with us”.#Mt 1.23. 15-16Even before the boy is old enough to know how to choose between right and wrong, he will eat yoghurt and honey,#7.15,16 yoghurt and honey: This may refer either to expensive foods eaten in a time of plenty or to a limited diet eaten in times of a food shortage. and the countries of the two kings you fear will be destroyed. 17But the LORD will make more trouble for your people and your kingdom than any of you have known since Israel broke away from Judah. He will even bring the king of Assyria to attack you.
The threat of an invasion
18When that time comes, the LORD will whistle, and armies will come from Egypt like flies and from Assyria like bees. 19They will settle everywhere—in the deep valleys and between the rocks, on every bush and all over the pasture land.
20The Lord will pay the king of Assyria to bring a razor from across the River Euphrates and shave your head and every hair on your body, including your beard.#7.20 shave…head…body…beard: This would have been a terrible insult.
21No one will have more than one young cow and two sheep, 22but those who do will have enough milk to make yoghurt. In fact, everyone left in the land will eat yoghurt and honey.#7.22 yoghurt and honey: See the note at 7.15,16.
23Vineyards that had a thousand vines and were worth a thousand pieces of silver will turn into thorn patches. 24You will go there to hunt with your bow and arrows, because the whole country will be covered with thorn bushes. 25The hills where you once planted crops will be overgrown with thorns and thistles. You will be afraid to go there, and your cattle, sheep, and goats will be turned loose on those hills.
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Isaiah 7: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Isaiah 7
7
1In 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. 2David’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.
3Then 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. 4Tell 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. 5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, 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.” 7This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.” 8For 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. 9The 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.’”
10Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11“Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
12But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt Yahweh.”
13He 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? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.#7:14 “Immanuel” means “God with us”. 15He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken. 17Yahweh 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.
18It 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. 19They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.
20In 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.
21It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep. 22It 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.
23It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels,#7:23 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1000 shekels is about 10 kilograms or 22 pounds. will be for briers and thorns. 24People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns. 25All 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.”
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