The Sign of Immanuel, the Consequences of Unbelief, and the Promise of a Child Who Will Reign in Justice and Peace
Isaiah 7
1 It happened 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, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it; but they could not prevail against it.
2 David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.
3 Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field.
4 Tell him, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying,
6 “Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.”
7 This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’”
10 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”
13 He said, “Hear now, house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that you will weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
17 Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—even the king of Assyria.
18 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They shall come, and shall all of them rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
21 It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
22 and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they give he shall eat butter: for everyone who is left in the land shall eat butter and honey.
23 It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels shall be for briers and thorns.
24 People will go there with arrows and with bows, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
25 All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it will be for the sending out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.
Isaiah 8
1 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’;
2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
4 For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 “Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty floodwaters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.
9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!
10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
11 For Yahweh spoke this to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 “Don’t call a conspiracy everything that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear what they fear, neither be in dread.
13 Yahweh of Armies is the one you must regard as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
14 He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and for a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
16 Bind up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.
17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 When they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20 Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
21 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward.
22 They will look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Isaiah 9
1 But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder.
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.
5 For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel.
9 All the people will know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,
12 the Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies.
14 Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day.
15 The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
16 For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, the land is burned up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother.
20 One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. They will each eat the flesh of his own arm:
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together will be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Scripture: World English Bible (WEB), public domain.
