Isaiah 7

¹ In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah, Razon king of Aram advanced onJerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to attack it; but he was unable to attack it.

² The House of David was informed: 'Aram has halted in Ephraimite territory.' At this, his heart and hispeople's hearts shook like forest trees shaking in the wind.

³ Yahweh then said to Isaiah, 'Go out with your son Shear-Jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of theconduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Ful er's Field,

⁴ and say to him, "Pay attention and keep calm. Do not be frightened or demoralised by these twosmouldering sticks of firewood, by the fierce anger of Razon, Aram and the son of Remaliah,

⁵ or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have been plotting against you and saying:

⁶ Let us mount an attack on Judah, destroy it, force it onto our side and instal the son of Tabeel there asking.

⁷ "Lord Yahweh says this: This wil not happen, it wil never occur,

⁸ for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Razon; another sixty-five years, andEphraim wil cease to be a people.

⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you wil not takeyour stand on me you wil not stand firm." '

¹⁰ Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said:

¹¹ Ask Yahweh your God for a sign, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above.

¹² But Ahaz said, 'I wil not ask. I wil not put Yahweh to the test.'

¹³ He then said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human patience that youshould try my God's patience too?

¹⁴ The Lord wil give you a sign in any case: It is this: the young woman is with child and wil give birth to ason whom she wil cal Immanuel.

¹⁵ On curds and honey wil he feed until he knows how to refuse the bad and choose the good.

¹⁶ Before the child knows how to refuse the bad and choose the good, the lands whose two kings arefrightening you will be deserted.

¹⁷ Yahweh wil bring times for you, your people and your ancestral House, such as have not been seensince Ephraim broke away from Judah (the king of Assyria).

¹⁸ When that day comes, Yahweh wil whistle up mosquitoes from the distant streams of Egypt and beesfrom the land of Assyria,

¹⁹ and they wil al come and settle on the streams in the gul ies, in the holes in the rocks, on al the thorn-bushes and on all the water-points.

²⁰ That day the Lord wil shave, with a razor hired from the other side of the River (with the king ofAssyria), the head and the hair of the leg, and take off the beard, too.

²¹ When that day comes, each man wil raise one heifer and two sheep,

²² and because of the abundant milk they give (on curds will he feed) al who are left in the country wilfeed on curds and honey.

²³ When that day comes, wherever there used to be a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver,al wil be brambles and thorn-bushes;

²⁴ to be ventured into only with arrows and bow, for the country wil be nothing but brambles and thorn-bushes.

²⁵ No more wil you venture on any hil side formerly under the hoe for fear of the brambles and thorn-bushes; it will be fit only for pasturing the cattle, a tramping-ground for sheep.