Isaiah 7

¹ In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Razon the king of Aram went up against Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to lay siege to it; but he was unable to capture it.

² The news was brought to the House of David. ‘Aram’ they said ‘has reached Ephraim.’ Then the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind.

³ Yahweh said to Isaiah, ‘Go with your son Shear-jashub,[*a] and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the Fuller’s Field road,

⁴ and say to him: “Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands,[*b]

⁵ or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have plotted to ruin you, and have said:

⁶ Let us invade Judah and terrorise it and seize it for ourselves, and set up a king there, the son of Tabeel.

⁷ The Lord Yahweh says this: It shall not come true; it shall not be.

¹⁰ Once again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz and said,

¹¹ ‘Ask Yahweh your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above’.

¹² ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put Yahweh to the test.’

¹³ Then he said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too?

¹⁴ The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

¹⁵ On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how to refuse evil and choose good.

¹⁶ For before this child knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings terrify you will be deserted.

¹⁷ Yahweh will bring times for you and your people and your father’s House, such as have not come since Ephraim broke away from Judah (the king of Assyria).

¹⁸ That day Yahweh will whistle up mosquitoes from the Delta of the Egyptian Niles, and bees from the land of Assyria,

¹⁹ to come and settle on the steep ravine, on the rocky cleft, on the thorn bush and on every pasture.

²⁰ On that day the Lord will shave with a blade hired from beyond the River[*c] (the king of Assyria), the head and hairs of the body, and take off the beard, too.

²¹ That day each man will raise one heifer and two sheep,

²² and because of the abundance of milk they give, all who are left in the country will feed on curds and honey.

²³ That day, where a thousand vines used to be, worth one thousand pieces of silver, all will be briar and thorn.

²⁴ Men will enter it with arrows and bow, since the whole country will revert to briar and thorn.

²⁵ On any hillside hoed with the hoe no one will come for fear of briars and thorns; it will be pasture for cattle and grazing for sheep.