Isaiah 7–10

1In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, 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.

2David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.

3Then Yahweh 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.

4Tell 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.

5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,

6“Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.”

7This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”

8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people.

9The 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.’”

10Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

11“Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”

12But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt Yahweh.”

13He 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?

14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.

16For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

17Yahweh 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.

18It will happen in that day that Yahweh 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.

19They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.

20In 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.

21It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep.

22It 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 within the land.

23It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, will be for briers and thorns.

24People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.

25All 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 out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.”

1Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;

2and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

3I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’

4For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

5Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,

6“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

7now 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.

8It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, O Immanuel.

9Make 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!

10Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”

11For Yahweh spoke this to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12“Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their threats or be terrorized.

13Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

14He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.

15Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”

16Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.

17I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.

19When 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?

20Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

21They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward,

22then look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.

1But 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.

2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death.

3You 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 plunder.

4For 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.

5For 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.

6For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, 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 Yahweh of Armies will perform this.

8The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel.

9All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart,

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.”

11Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,

12The 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.

13Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies.

14Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day.

15The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.

16For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed.

17Therefore 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.

18For 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.

19Through Yahweh of Armies’ wrath, the land is burned up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother.

20One 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:

21Manasseh eating Ephraim and Ephraim eating Manasseh, and they together will be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

1Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees

2to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

4They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!

6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7However, he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.

8For he says, “Aren’t all of my princes kings?

9Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?”

10As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria,

11shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12Therefore it will happen that when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his arrogant looks.

13For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers.

14My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”

15Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.

16Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.

17The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.

18He will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.

19The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number.

20It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will make a full end, and that determined, throughout all the earth.

24Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, says, “My people who dwell in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did.

25For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and my anger will be directed to his destruction.”

26Yahweh of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. His rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up like he did against Egypt.

27It will happen in that day that his burden will depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

28He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage.

29They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!

31Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32This very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.

34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.