1. And it came to pass,* in the days of Ahaz,
son of Jotham, son of Uziah, the king of Judah,
that Rezin, the king of Aram,
and Pekah, the king of Israel, son of Remaliah,
went up to attack Jerusalem,
to fight with them,
but they were neither able to fight them,
nor overcome them.
2. And when it was told to the House of David
that Aram and Ephraim had joined forces,
the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people trembled,
like the trees of the forest tremble
from the force of the wind.
3. And the Lord commanded Isaiah,
"Go out on the way of Ahaz,
you and your son Shereashu,
by the side of the upper lake
on the road of the palace field,
4. "And say to him, 'Take note,
stay calm and fear not;
let not your heart flutter*
because of these two warmongering lackeys*
and from the anger of Rezin
and the son of Remaliah.
5. "'So as they may rule* over you
through evil,
Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
6. "'And say: We shall go up to Judea,
tear it down, run it over, and
rule it,
through the son of Tabeel as king.'
7. "This is what the Lord God
commands,
'This shall not stand and this shall not
be,
8. "'Because the head of Aram is
Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin,
and after sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be dropped from the nation.
9. "'However, the head of Ephraim is
Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah,
and if you do not believe you will not
learn either.'"
10. And the Lord said to Ahaz again,*
11. "Ask for yourself a sign from your
Lord God,
ask as deep as you wish
or as high as you wish."*
12. "And Ahaz said, "I will not
ask
and I will not put my Lord God to the
test."*
13. Thus He commands, "Listen, O,
House of David,
it would be a small matter
if you were holding a man to task,
except [do you imagine]
you are holding God to task?
14. "Because of that the Lord God
gives you this sign, behold,
the Virgin shall conceive
and give birth to a Son
and his name shall be called
Emanuel.*
15. "The churned staples and
the pure honey
he shall eat,
so as he may know how to denigrate the evil
and choose the good;
whereas the land of the two kings
where you are being oppressed shall be
forsaken.
16. "Because before the child learns to
denigrate the evil
and choose the good,
the land where you are being oppressed by
the two kings
shall be forsaken.
17. "The Lord shall bring upon you,
your people and your father's house,
days that did not come
from the Day when the king of Ashur
removed Ephraim from Judah.
18. "And it shall come to pass* on that Day
that the Lord shall send the siege machines
that are by the edges of Egypt's rivers
and the commanders* that are in Ashur.
19. "And they shall come
and they shall all rest
in the barren deserts
and in the declivities of stones
and in all the sand dunes."
20. On that Day,
the Lord shall sweep across the river
by the swift attack* of Ashur's king,
who will shave* him
from his head to the top of his feet,
together with his beard.
21. And on that Day,
a man shall be sustained by a young bull
and a couple of sheep.
22. And from the milk producers
he shall have plenty to drink
and plenty of the churned foods,
because it is the honey
and the churned foods
that will eat whoever remains in the land.
23. And on that Day,
it shall come to pass
that wherever there are a thousand vines
worth a thousand pieces of silver,*
they shall be overrun by the thorns and the
thistles.
24. And by bows and arrows
they shall enter there,
because all the land will be inundated
by the thorns and the thistles.
25. And all the hills where there were
crops
shall be conquered,
and there the fear of the thorns and the
thistles
shall not enter,
and the house of the shepherd
shall be the abode of the ox
and the house of the mighty
shall be the abode of the sheep.
*7:1 Lit. Ar. id.: "There happened."
*7:4.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Break."
*7:4.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Tails of warring circlers."
*7:10 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "And added again the Lord, commanding Ahaz."
*7:11 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Deeply ask or rise high."
*7:12 This sign of faithfulness is rewarded by the prophesy that follows.
*7:14 "Ummano-Eil," "With-us-is-Eil," or God-is-among-us. This is the prophesy regarding the Coming of Jesus. The prophetic vision was a reward for King Ahaz's faithfulness in not putting God to the test.
*7:18.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Happen."
*7:18.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Leaderships."
*7:20.1 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Throwing into the arena."
*7:20.2 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "Swipe him," or "scrape him."
*7:23 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "By a thousand currency.