1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not Lit fight againstconquer it.

2When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have taken a stand by Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.

3Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son I.e., a remnant shall returnShear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the I.e., launderer’sfuller’s field,

4and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

5Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

6“Let’s go up against Judah and Or demolishterrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

7this is what the Lord Heb YHWH, usually rendered LordGod says: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.

8For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),

9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not Or endurelast.” ’ ”

10Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

11“Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; As in most ancient versions; MT make the request deep or highmake it deep as Sheol or high as Lit heightsheaven.”

12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!”

13Then he said, “Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to Lit make men wearytry the patience of men, that you will Lit make my God wearytry the patience of my God as well?

14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the As in LXX; MT young unmarried womanvirgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him I.e., God is with usImmanuel.

15He will eat Possibly buttercurds and honey Lit with respect to his knowingat the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

16For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

17The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the king of Assyria.”

18On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the Or mouth of the rivers; i.e., the Nile Deltaremotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

19They will all come and settle on the steep Or wadisravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

20On that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

21Now on that day a person may keep alive only a heifer and a pair of sheep;

22and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat Possibly buttercurds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat Possibly buttercurds and honey.

23And it will come about on that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.

24People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.

25As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for Lit pastureland ofpasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.