New Living Translation

English Standard Version

A Message for Ahaz

When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syriaa and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.

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Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

In 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 could not yet mount an attack against it.

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The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israelb against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.

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When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league witha Ephraim,” the heart of Ahazb and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

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Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashubc and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.d

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And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashubc your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.

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Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.

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And say to him, ‘Be careful, 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.

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Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,

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Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying,

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‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’

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“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer itd for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

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But this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“This invasion will never happen;
it will never take place;

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thus says the Lord God:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.

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for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
it will be crushed and completely destroyed.

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For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

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Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”

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And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If youe are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”

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The Sign of Immanuel

Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz:

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The Sign of Immanuel

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz:

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“Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want — as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.e”

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“Ask a sign of the Lord yourf God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

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But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”

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But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”

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Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?

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And heg said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?

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All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virginf will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.h

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By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurtg and honey.

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He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

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For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

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For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

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“Then the LORD will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

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The 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!”

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In that day the LORD will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.

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In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

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They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places.

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And 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.i

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In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates Riverh — the king of Assyria — and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.i

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In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the Riverj — with the king of Assyria — the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

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In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.

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In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep,

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Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey.

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and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

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In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver,j will become patches of briers and thorns.

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In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekelsk of silver, will become briers and thorns.

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The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife.

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With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.

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No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.

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And as for all the hills that 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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New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7