Isaiah 7
1IN the days of Achaz the son of Joatham, the son of Ozias king of Judah, Rasin king of Aram and Phakee, son of Romelias, king of Israel, came up against Jerusalem to war against it, but could not lay close siege to it.
2When the house of David was informed that Aram had confederated with Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of his people was moved, as a tree in the forest is shaken by the wind.
3Whereupon the Lord said to Esaias, Go out and meet Achaz, thou and Forsaken-jasub thy son, at the pool on the upper road to the fuller’s field,
4and thou shalt say to him, Take heed and be quiet; be not terrified, nor let thy soul be dismayed on the account of these two smoking firebrands: for when My fierce wrath is come I will again heal.
5And as for the son of Aram and the son of Romelias; because they have taken evil counsel, saying,
6Let us go up to Judea and confer with the people and bring them into our measures; and let us make the son of Tabeel king over it,
7thus saith the Lord of Hosts. This counsel shall not stand; nor shall it take effect.
8But the head of Aram shall be Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rasin—but further, in threescore and five years, the kingdom of Ephraim shall cease from being a people,
9though Somoron is the head of Ephraim, and the son of Romelias, the head of Somoron, yes though you may not believe nor understand.
10Moreover the Lord proceeded to speak to Achaz saying:
11Ask thee a sign from the Lord thy God in the depth or in the height.
12And Achaz said: I will not ask, nor will I try the Lord.
13Thereupon He said, Hear now, O house of David, Is it a small matter for you to contend with men? How is it then that you contend with the Lord?
14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel [God-with-us].
15Doth this child,* before it hath known to choose good in preference to evil, eat butter and honey,
16because previous to its knowing good or evil it disobeyeth evil to make choice of good? The land indeed which thou fearest on account of these two kings shall be relinquished;
17but God will bring upon thee, and upon thy people and upon the house of thy father, days which have not yet come. From the day He hath taken Ephraim from Juda, [He will bring forth] the king of the Assyrians.
18It shall come to pass that at that time the Lord will utter a call to the flies—to that part of them which rule over the river of Egypt; and to the bee which is in the country of the Assyrians;
19and they shall all come into the valleys of this country; and into the holes of the rocks; and into the caves and into every cleft.
20On that day the Lord will shave with that razor—with that which was hired on the bank of the river—with that of the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hair of the feet: and take off the beard.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man will keep a young cow and two sheep;
22and by reason of the abundance he will drink milk—butter and honey will be eaten by everyone left in the land.
23And it shall come to pass in that day everywhere, though there may be a thousand vineyards, each valued at a thousand shekels income: they shall be for briars and thorns.
24With bows and arrows men will resort thither. Because the whole country shall be a waste of briars and thorns,
25therefore every mountain which hath been ploughed will be ploughed, wherever terror could not come; for by reason of the country’s being a waste of briars and thorns, it shall be a pasture for sheep and a range for the ox.