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Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

¹ In the days of ^(a)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(b)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(c)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. ² When the house of David was told, ^(d)"Syria is in league with^{[a] (e)}Ephraim," the heart of Ahaz^[b] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(f)Shear-jashub^[c] your son, at the end of ^(g)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ^(h)‘Be careful, ⁽ⁱ⁾be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(j)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(k)the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(l)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^[d] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it," ⁷ thus says the Lord God:

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ "Ask ^(q)a sign of the Lord your^[f] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." ¹² But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test." ¹³ And he^[g] said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(r)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(s)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(t)Behold, the ^(u)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(v)Immanuel.^{[h] 15} He shall eat ^(w)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (x)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(y)deserted. ^17 (z)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 ^(aa)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!"

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(ab)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. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(ac)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[i]

²⁰ In that day ^(ad)the Lord will ^(ae)shave with a razor that is ^(af)hired beyond ^(ag)the River^[j]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (ah)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(ai)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[k] of silver, will become ^(aj)briers and thorns. ^24 (ak)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (al)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(am)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.