Isaiah 7:1-25
7 Now it came about in the days of Aʹhaz+ the son of Joʹtham the son of Uz·ziʹah, the king of Judah, that Reʹzin+ the king of Syria and Peʹkah+ the son of Rem·a·liʹah,* the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem for war against it, and he* proved unable to war against it.+
2 And a report was made to the house of David, saying: “Syria has leaned* upon Eʹphra·im.”+
And his heart and the heart of his people began to quiver, like the quivering of the trees of the forest because of a wind.*+
3 And Jehovah proceeded to say to Isaiah: “Go out, please, to meet Aʹhaz, you and Sheʹar-jaʹshub*+ your son, to the end of the conduit+ of the upper pool by the highway of the laundryman’s field.+
4 And you must say to him, ‘Watch yourself and keep undisturbed.+ Do not be afraid, and do not let your heart itself be timid+ because of the two tail ends of these smoking logs, because of the hot anger of Reʹzin and Syria and the son of Rem·a·liʹah,+
5 for the reason that Syria [with] Eʹphra·im and the son of Rem·a·liʹah has advised what is bad against you, saying:
6 “Let us go up against Judah and tear it apart and by breakthroughs take it for ourselves; and let us make another king reign inside it, the son of Tabʹe·el.”+
7 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “It will not stand, neither will it take place.+
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Reʹzin; and within just sixty-five years Eʹphra·im will be shattered to pieces so as not to be a people.+
9 And the head of Eʹphra·im is Sa·marʹi·a,+ and the head of Sa·marʹi·a is the son of Rem·a·liʹah.+ Unless YOU people have faith, YOU will in that case not be of long duration.”’”+
10 And Jehovah went on speaking some more to Aʹhaz, saying:
11 “Ask for yourself a sign from Jehovah your God,+ making it as deep as Sheʹol* or making it high as the upper regions.”
12 But Aʹhaz said: “I shall not ask, neither shall I put Jehovah to the test.”
13 And he proceeded to say: “Listen, please, O house of David. Is it such a little thing for YOU to tire out men, that YOU should also tire out my God?+
14 Therefore Jehovah* himself will give YOU men a sign: Look! The maiden*+ herself will actually become pregnant,+ and she is giving birth to a son,+ and she will certainly call his name Im·manʹu·el.*
15 Butter and honey he will eat by the time that he knows how to reject the bad and choose the good.+
16 For before the boy will know how to reject the bad and choose the good,+ the ground of whose two kings you are feeling a sickening dread will be left entirely.+
17 Jehovah will bring against you+ and against your people and against the house of your father days such as have not come since the day of Eʹphra·im’s turning away from alongside Judah,+ namely, the king of As·syrʹi·a.*+
18 “And it must occur in that day that Jehovah will whistle for the flies* that are at the extremity of the Nile canals of Egypt and for the bees*+ that are in the land of As·syrʹi·a,+
19 and they will certainly come in and settle down, all of them, upon the precipitous torrent valleys and upon the clefts of the crags and upon all the thorn thickets and upon all the watering places.*+
20 “In that day, by means of a hired razor in the region of the River,+ even by means of the king of As·syrʹi·a,+ Jehovah* will shave the head and the hair of the feet,* and it* will sweep away even the beard itself.+
21 “And it must occur in that day that an individual* will preserve alive a young cow of the herd and two sheep.+
22 And it must occur that, due to the abundance of the producing of milk, he will eat butter; because butter and honey+ are what everyone left remaining in the midst of the land* will eat.
23 “And it must occur in that day that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand pieces of silver,+ will come to be—for the thornbushes and for the weeds it will come to be.+
24 With arrows and the bow he* will come there,+ because all the land will become mere thornbushes and weeds.
25 And all the mountains that used to be cleared of troublesome plants with a hoe—you will not come there for fear of thornbushes and weeds; and it will certainly become a place for letting bulls loose and a trampling ground of sheep.”+
Footnotes
^ “Has settled down; has rested,” by another derivation of the Heb. verb.
^ Meaning “A Mere Remnant (Those Remaining Over) Will Return.”
^ “As Sheol” (Heb., sheʼoʹlah), by a slight change in vowel pointing as suggested in BHK and BHS ftns and in agreement with AqSymThVg; M(Heb.), sheʼaʹlah, “do ask.” See App 4B.
^ “Immanuel.” Heb., ʽIm·maʹnu ʼEl, meaning “With Us Is God”; Gr., Em·ma·nou·elʹ; Vgc(Lat.), Em·maʹnu·el. See Mt 1:23.
^ “The maiden (young woman).” Heb., ha·ʽal·mahʹ; LXX(Gr., par·theʹnos)Sy(Syr., bethul·thaʼ), “the virgin”; AqSymTh(Gr.), ne·aʹnis, “maiden; girl”; Lat., virʹgo, “virgin.” See Ge 24:16 ftns.
^ One of 134 scribal changes from YHWH to ʼAdho·naiʹ. See App 1B.
^ “Assyria.” Heb., ʼAsh·shurʹ; LXX, “the Assyrians.”
^ “For the flies.” Heb., laz·zevuvʹ, sing. but in a collective sense.
^ “And for the bees.” Heb., welad·devoh·rahʹ, sing. but in a collective sense.
^ Or, “the pastures.”
^ See vs 14 ftn, “Jehovah.”
^ That is, the hair of the genitals, according to BDB, p. 920.
^ “It,” fem., that is, the razor.
^ Or, “a man.” Heb., ʼish.
^ Or, “earth.”
^ Or, “one.”
