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.
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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."
________________________________________________________________________
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