Isaiah, starting at chapter 7 {7:1} It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. {7:2} It was told the house of David, saying, "Syria is allied with Ephraim." His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind. {7:3} Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field. {7:4} Tell him, 'Be careful, and keep calm. Don't be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. {7:5} Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying, {7:6} "Let's go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let's divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel." {7:7} This is what the Lord GOD says: "It shall not stand, neither shall it happen." {7:8} For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people; {7:9} and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"
{7:10} The LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, {7:11} "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above." {7:12} But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD." {7:13} He said, "Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also? {7:14} Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name [1>]Immanuel.[<1] {7:15} He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good. {7:16} For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken. {7:17} The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. {7:18} It will happen in that day that the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. {7:19} They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures. {7:20} In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard. {7:21} It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep; {7:22} and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter: for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left in the midst of the land. {7:23} It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns. {7:24} People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns. {7:25} All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep." {8:1} The LORD said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, '[2>]For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;[<2]' {8:2} and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah." {8:3} I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.' {8:4} For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria." {8:5} The LORD spoke to me yet again, saying, {8:6} "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; {8:7} now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks. {8:8} It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel. {8:9} Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered! {8:10} Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us." {8:11} For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, {8:12} "Don't say, 'A conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy!' neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized. {8:13} The LORD of Hosts is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread. {8:14} He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. {8:15} Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured." {8:16} Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples. {8:17} I will wait for the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. {8:18} Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion. {8:19} When they tell you, "Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:" shouldn't a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? {8:20} Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them. {8:21} They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward, {8:22} and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness. {9:1} But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. {9:2} The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined. {9:3} You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. {9:4} For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian. {9:5} For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. {9:6} For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. {9:7} Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this. {9:8} The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel. {9:9} All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, {9:10} "The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place." {9:11} Therefore the LORD will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies, {9:12} The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. {9:13} Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought the LORD of Hosts. {9:14} Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day. {9:15} The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. {9:16} For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed. {9:17} Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. {9:18} For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. {9:19} Through the wrath of the LORD of Hosts, the land is burnt up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother. {9:20} One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm: {9:21} Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ________________________________________________________________________ Footnotes: [1] {7:14} "Immanuel" means "God with us." [2] {8:1} "Maher Shalal Hash Baz" means "quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil." ________________________________________________________________________ The World English Bible: Messianic Edition is in the Public Domain. 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