Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
Now it happened in the days of aAhaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that bRezin the king of Aram and cPekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but dcould not conquer it. 2 When it was told to the ahouse of David, saying, “The Arameans bhave camped in cEphraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3 Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aconduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the fuller’s field, 4 and say to him, ‘Take care and stay aquiet, have no bfear and cdo not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering dfirebrands, on account of the burning anger of Rezin and Aram and the eson of Remaliah. 5 Because aAram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has counseled evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says Lord Yahweh: “aIt shall not stand, nor shall it happen. 8 For the head of Aram is aDamascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. aIf you do not establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not be established.”’”
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Then Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a asign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not test Yahweh!” 13 Then he said, “Listen now, O ahouse of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will btry the patience of cmy God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, athe virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name bImmanuel. 15 He will eat acurds and honey in order that He will know to refuse evil and choose good. 16 aFor before the boy will know to refuse evil and choose good, bthe land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. 17 Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days which have never come since the day that aEphraim separated from Judah—the bking of Assyria!”
Trials to Come for Judah
18 And it will be in that day, that Yahweh will awhistle for the fly that is in the bremotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and rest upon the steep ravines, on the acrevices of the cliffs, bon all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.
20 In that day, the Lord will ashave with a brazor—one chired from regions beyond dthe River (that is, the king of Assyria)—the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.
21 And it will be in that day, that a man may keep alive a aheifer and a pair of sheep; 22 and because of the abundance of the milk produced, he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat acurds and honey.
23 And it will be in that day, athat every place where there used to be one thousand vines, valued at one thousand shekels of silver, will become bbriars and thorns. 24 People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. 25 As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for apasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
Then Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and awrite on it in ordinary letters: bConcerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, aUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3 Then I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name aMaher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for abefore the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of bDamascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 Again Yahweh spoke to me further, saying,
6 “Inasmuch as these people have arejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in bRezin and the son of Remaliah;
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the amighty and abundant waters of the bRiver—
The cking of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will drise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.
8 Then ait will sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through;
It will breach even to the neck;
And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of Your land, O cImmanuel.
Yahweh, a Sanctuary and a Stumbling Stone
9 “aBe broken, O peoples, and be bshattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.
10 aDevise counsel, but it will be thwarted;
Speak a word, but bit will not stand,
For cGod is with us.”
11 For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a astrong hand and disciplined me bnot to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a aconspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy;
And byou are not to fear what they fear, and you shall not tremble.
13 It is aYahweh of hosts bwhom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your cause of trembling.
14 Then He shall become a asanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a bstone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a ctrap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many awill stumble over them;
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”
16 aBind up the testimony, bseal the law among cmy disciples. 17 And I will await for Yahweh bwho is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope for Him. 18 aBehold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for bsigns and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who cdwells on Mount Zion.
Darkness to Light Through the Prince of Peace
19 Now when they say to you, “aInquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people binquire of their God? Should they cinquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the alaw and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because bthey have no dawn. 21 And they will pass through the land ahard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward. 22 Then they will alook to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be bbanished into thick darkness. But there will be no more agloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He btreated the cland of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 aThe people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in the land of the shadow of death,
The light will shine on them.
3 aYou shall multiply the nation,
You bshall make great their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As cmen rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For aYou shall shatter the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their btaskmaster, as at the battle of cMidian.
5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the rumbling of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For a achild will be born to us, a bson will be given to us;
And the cgovernment will rest don His shoulders;
And His name will be called eWonderful Counselor, fMighty God,
Eternal gFather, Prince of hPeace.
7 There will be ano end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the bthrone of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with cjustice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
dThe zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this.
Yahweh’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, aEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Saying in lofty pride and in barrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will arebuild with cut stones;
The sycamores have been cut in pieces,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore Yahweh exalts against them adversaries from aRezin
And incites their enemies,
12 The Arameans on the east and the aPhilistines on the west;
And they bdevour Israel with gaping jaws.
cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people ado not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they bseek Yahweh of hosts.
14 So Yahweh cuts off ahead and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush bin a single day.
15 The head is athe elder and the highly respected man,
And the prophet who teaches bfalsehood is the tail.
16 aFor those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord ais not glad in their choice men,
bNor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is cgodless and an devildoer,
And every emouth is speaking wicked foolishness.
fIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
18 aFor wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame,
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the afury of Yahweh of hosts the bland is burned up,
And the cpeople are like fuel for the fire;
No dman spares his brother.
20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are ahungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the bflesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
aAnd together they are against Judah.
bIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.