New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

A Message for Ahaz

When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syriaa and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.

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A Message to Ahaz

And it came to pass 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, came up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but they were not able to fight against it.

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The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israelb against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.

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And it was told the house of David saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim. Then his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind.

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Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashubc and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.d

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And Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field;

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Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.

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and thou shalt say unto him, Take heed and be quiet; fear not, and let not thy heart faint before these two ends of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

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Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,

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Inasmuch as Syria hath taken evil counsel against thee, Ephraim [also] and the son of Remaliah, saying,

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‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’

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Let us go up against Judah, and harass it, and make a breach therein for us, and set up a king therein -- the son of Tabeal;

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But this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“This invasion will never happen;
it will never take place;

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thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, nor come to pass;

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for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
it will be crushed and completely destroyed.

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for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken, so as to be no [more a] people;

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Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”

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and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye believe not, surely ye shall not be established.

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The Sign of Immanuel

Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz:

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The Sign of Immanuel

And Jehovah spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

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“Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want — as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.e”

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Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God; ask for it in the deep, or in the height above.

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But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”

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And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and will not tempt Jehovah.

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Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?

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And he said, Hear then, house of David: Is it a small matter for you to weary men, that ye weary also my God?

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All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virginf will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

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Therefore will the Lord himself give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel.

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By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurtg and honey.

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Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.

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For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

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For before the child knoweth to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land whose two kings thou fearest shall be forsaken.

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“Then the LORD will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

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Judgment to Come

Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days which have not come since the day when Ephraim turned away from Judah -- [even] the king of Assyria.

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In that day the LORD will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.

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And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will hiss for the fly which is at the extremity of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria;

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They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places.

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and they shall come and settle all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and on all thorn-bushes, and on all the pastures.

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In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates Riverh — the king of Assyria — and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.i

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In that day will the Lord, with a razor which is hired beyond the river, with the king of Assyria, shave the head and the hair of the feet, yea, the beard also will it take away.

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In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.

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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep,

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Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey.

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and it shall come to pass, from the abundance of milk they shall give, [that] he shall eat butter; for every one that remaineth in the midst of the land shall eat butter and honey.

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In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver,j will become patches of briers and thorns.

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And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver pieces, shall become briars and thorns:

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The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife.

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with arrows and with the bow shall they come thither, for the whole land shall become briars and thorns.

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No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.

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And all mountains that have been dug up with the hoe -- thither will they not come, from fear of briars and thorns; and they shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of small cattle.

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Darby Bible Translation

Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7