1 And in the dayes of Ahaz, the sonne of Iotham, the sonne of Vzziah king of Iudah, Rezin the King of Aram came vp, and Pekah the sonne of Remaliah King of Israel, to Ierusalem to fight against it, but he could not ouercome it. 2 And it was tolde the house of Dauid, saying, Aram is ioyned with Ephraim: therefore his heart was moued, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moued by the winde. 3 Then sayde the Lord vnto Isaiah, Goe foorth nowe to meete Ahaz (thou and Sheariashub thy sonne) at the ende of the conduit of the vpper poole, in the path of the fullers fielde, 4 And say vnto him, Take heede, and be still: feare not, neither be faint hearted for the two tailes of these smoking firebrands, for the furious wrath of Rezin and of Aram, and of Remaliahs sonne: 5 Because Aram hath taken wicked counsell against thee, and Ephraim, and Remaliahs sonne, saying, 6 Let vs goe vp against Iudah, and let vs waken them vp, and make a breach therein for vs, and set a King in the mids thereof, euen the sonne of Tabeal. 7 Thus sayth the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it be. 8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and within fiue and threescore yeere, Ephraim shalbe destroyed from being a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne. If ye beleeue not, surely ye shall not be established. 10 And the Lord spake againe vnto Ahaz, saying, 11 Aske a signe for thee of the Lord thy God: aske it, either in the depth beneath or in the height aboue. 12 But Ahaz sayd, I wil not aske, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 Then he sayd, Heare you nowe, O house of Dauid, Is it a small thing for you to grieue men, that ye will also grieue my God? 14 Therefore the Lord himselfe will giue you a signe. Beholde, the virgine shall conceiue and beare a sonne, and she shall call his name Immanu-el. 15 Butter and hony shall he eate, till he haue knowledge to refuse the euill, and to chuse the good. 16 For afore the childe shall haue knowledge to eschew the euill, and to chuse the good, the land, that thou abhorrest, shalbe forsaken of both her Kings. 17 The Lord shall bring vpon thee, and vpon thy people, and vpon thy fathers house (the dayes that haue not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Iudah) euen the King of Asshur. 18 And in that day shall the Lord hisse for the flie that is at the vttermost part of the floods of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the lande of Asshur, 19 And they shall come and shall light all in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rockes, and vpon all thorny places, and vpon all bushy places. 20 In that day shall the Lord shaue with a rasor that is hired, euen by them beyond the Riuer, by the King of Asshur, the head and the heare of the feete, and it shall consume the beard. 21 And in the same day shall a man nourish a yong kow, and two sheepe. 22 And for the abundance of milke, that they shall giue, hee shall eate butter: for butter and hony shall euery one eate, which is left within the land. 23 And at the same day euery place, wherein shalbe a thousand vines, shalbe at a thousand pieces of siluer: so it shalbe for the briers and for the thornes. 24 With arrowes and with bowe shall one come thither: because all the land shall be briers and thornes. 25 But on all the mountaines, which shalbe digged with the mattocke, there shall not come thither the feare of briers and thornes: but they shalbe for the sending out of bullocks, and for the treading of sheepe.
A Message for King Ahaz
1 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it.
2 When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind.
3 The Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 4 Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood. 5 Syria, together with Israel and its king, has made a plot. 6 They intend to invade Judah, terrify the people into joining their side, and then put Tabeel's son on the throne.
7 “But I, the Lord, declare that this will never happen. 8 Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation. 9 Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah.
“If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure.”
The Sign of Immanuel
10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven.”
12 Ahaz answered, “I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the Lord to the test.”
13 To that Isaiah replied, “Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of people—do you have to wear out God's patience too? 14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him ‘Immanuel.’ 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.
17 “The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah—he is going to bring the king of Assyria.
18 “When that time comes, the Lord will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. 19 They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture.
20 “When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates—the emperor of Assyria!—and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies.
21 “When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, 22 they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat.
23 “When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. 24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. 25 All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze.”