Isaiah 7 (New American Standard)

War against Jerusalem

1 Now it came about in the days of ¹Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ²Rezin the king of Aram and ³Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ⁴could not ^aconquer it. 2 When it was reported to the ⁵house of David, saying, "The Arameans ^b6have camped in ⁷Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake ^cwith the wind. 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^dShear-jashub, at the end of the ⁸conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the ^efuller's field, 4 and say to him, 'Take care and be ⁹calm, have no ¹⁰fear and ¹¹do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering ¹²firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ¹³son of Remaliah. 5 'Because ¹⁴Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6 "Let us go up against Judah and ^fterrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in ^gits walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it," 7 thus says the Lord ^hGOD : "¹⁵It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 "For the head of Aram is ¹⁶Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 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. ¹⁷If you will not believe, you surely shall not ⁱlast.""'

The Child Immanuel

10 Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 "Ask a ¹⁸sign for yourself from the LORD your God ; ^jmake it deep as Sheol or high as ^kheaven." 12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD !" 13 Then he said, "Listen now, O ¹⁹house of David ! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will ²⁰try the patience of ²¹my God as well ? 14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : Behold, ²²a ^lvirgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name ^m23Immanuel. 15 "He will eat ²⁴curds and honey ⁿat the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 "²⁵For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, ²⁶the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Trials to Come for Judah

17 "The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house such days as have never come since the day that ²⁷Ephraim separated from Judah, the ²⁸king of Assyria." 18 In that day the LORD will ²⁹whistle for the fly that is in the ^o30remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle on the steep ^pravines, on the ³¹ledges of the cliffs, ³²on all the thorn bushes and on all the ^qwatering places. 20 In that day the Lord will ³³shave with a ³⁴razor, ³⁵hired from regions beyond ³⁶the ^rEuphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria ), the head and the hair of the legs ; and it will also remove the beard. 21 Now in that day a man may keep alive a ³⁷heifer 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 ³⁸curds and honey. 23 And it will come about in that day, ³⁹that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ⁴⁰briars 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 ^s41pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.