Study Desk

This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah:^(a) Rezin king of Aram, along with Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, waged war against Jerusalem,^(b) but he could not succeed.

When it became known to the house of David^(c) that Aram had occupied Ephraim,^(d) the heart of Ahaz^[a] and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out with your son Shear-jashub^(e) to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,^(f) by the road to the Fuller's Field.

Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don't be afraid or cowardly^(g) because of these two smoldering stubs of firebrands, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah.

For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say,

‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel's son as king in it.'"

This is what the Lord God says: It will not happen; it will not occur.^(h)

The^[b] head of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus is Rezin (within 65 years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),

the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.

Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz:

"Ask for a sign⁽ⁱ⁾ from the Lord your God—from the depths of Sheol to the heights of heaven."

But Ahaz replied, "I will not ask. I will not test the Lord ."

Isaiah^(j) said, "Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?^(k)

Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you^[c] a sign: The virgin will conceive,^[d] have a son, and name him Immanuel.^[e](l)

By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good,^(m) he will be eating butter^[f] and honey.⁽ⁿ⁾

For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.

The Lord will bring on you, your people, and the house of your father, such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah^(o)—the king of Assyria^(p) is coming."

On that day^(q) the Lord will whistle^(r) to the fly that is at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

All of them will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,^(s) in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.

On that day the Lord will use a razor^(t) hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria^(u)—to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.

On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,

and from the abundant milk they give he will eat butter, for every survivor in the land will eat butter and honey.^(v)

And on that day every place where there were 1,000 vines, worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become thorns and briers.^(w)

A man will go there with bow and arrows because the whole land will be thorns and briers.

You will not go to all the hills that were once tilled with a hoe, for fear of the thorns and briers. Those hills will be places for oxen to graze and for sheep to trample.

Then the Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of parchment^[a] and write on it with an ordinary pen:^[b](a) Maher-shalal-hash-baz.^[c]

I have appointed^[d] trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah."^(b)

I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother,^(c) the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria."^(d)

The Lord spoke to me again:

Because these people rejected the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced with^[e] Rezin and the son of Remaliah,^(e)

the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River— the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks.

It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck;^(f) and its spreading streams^[f] will fill your entire land, Immanuel!^(g)

Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken.

Devise a plan; it will fail.^(h) Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us.^[g](i)

For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep^[h] me from going the way of this people:^(j)

Do not call everything an alliance these people say is an alliance.^(k) Do not fear what they fear;^(l) do not be terrified.

You are to regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy.^(m) Only He should be feared;⁽ⁿ⁾ only He should be held in awe.

He will be a sanctuary;^(o) but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone^(p) to stumble over and a rock to trip over,^(q) and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Many will stumble over these;^(r) they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.

Bind up the testimony.^(s) Seal up the instruction^(t) among my disciples.

I will wait for the Lord ,^(u) who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.^(v) I will wait for Him.

Here I am with the children the Lord has given me^(w) to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.

When they say to you, "Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,"^(x) shouldn't a people consult their God?^[i] Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?^(y)

To the law and to the testimony!^(z) If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.

They will look toward the earth^(aa) and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.