prophesies relating to the reign of ahaz.—chaps. vii.–xii.
1. And it was in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin, king of Aram [or Syria], and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war against it; and he was not able to war against it. 2. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria resteth upon Ephraim: and his heart and the heart of the people shook, like the shaking of the trees of a wood before a wind.
3. And Jehovah said to Isaiah son of Amoz, Go out to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-jashub thy son, to the end of the conduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the fuller’s field. 4. And thou shalt say to him, Be cautious and be quiet; fear not, nor let thy heart be soft before these two smoking tails of firebrands, in the heat of the anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5. Because Syria has devised evil against thee, also Ephraim and Remaliah’s son, saying, 6. We will go up into Judah and vex it, and make a breach in it (thereby subduing it) to ourselves, and let us make a king in the midst of it, to wit, the son of Tabeal: 7. thus saith the Lord Jehovah, It shall not stand, and it shall not be; 8. because the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, for in yet sixty-and-five years shall Ephraim be broken from (being) a people; 9. for the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe (it is) because you are not to be established.
10. And Jehovah added to speak unto Ahaz, saying, 11. Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God, ask deep or high above. 12. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt Jehovah. 13. And he said, Hear, I pray you, O house of David! is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God? 14. Therefore the Lord Himself will give you sign. Behold! the virgin pregnant and bringing forth a son, and she calls his name Immanuel. 15. Curds and honey shall he eat until he shall know (how) to reject the evil and choose the good; 16. for before the child shall know (how) to reject the evil to choose the good, the land, of whose two kings thou art afraid, shall be forsaken.
17. Jehovah will bring upon thee, and on thy people, and on thy father’s house, days which have not come since the departure of Ephraim from Jacob, to wit, the king of Assyria. 18. And it shall be in that day that Jehovah will whistle for the fly which is in the edge of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in Assyria; 19. and they come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of rocks, and in all thorn-hedges, and in all pastures. 20. In that day will the Lord shave, with a razor hired in the parts beyond the river, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and also the beard will it take away. 21. And it shall be in that day (that) a man shall save alive a young cow and two sheep; 22. and it shall be (that) from the abundance of the yielding of milk, he shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of the land. 23. And it shall be in that day (that) every place where there shall be a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, shall be for thorns and briers. 24. With arrows and with bows shall one go thither, because thorns and briers shall the whole land be; 25. and all the hills which are digged with the hoe, thou shalt not go (even) there for fear of briers and thorns, and they shall be for a sending-place of cattle and a trampling-place of sheep.
VIII.—1. And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a man’s pen, to Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2. And I (Jehovah) will take to witness for me credible witnesses, to wit, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of Jeberechiah.
3. And I approached unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son, and Jehovah said to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz: 4. for before the child shall know (how) to cry, My father, and my mother, they shall take away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of Assyria.
5. And Jehovah added to speak to me again, saying—
6. Because this people hath forsaken the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and joy with respect to Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7. therefore, behold! the Lord (is) bringing up upon them the waters of the river, its strong and many waters, to wit, the king of Assyria and all his glory, and it shall come up over all the channels and go over all its banks, 8. and it shall pass over into Judah, overflow and pass through, to the neck shall it reach, and the spreading of its wings shall be the filling of the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!
9. Be wicked and be broken, and give ear all the remote parts of the earth! Gird yourselves and be broken; gird yourselves and be broken! 10. Devise a plan, and it shall be defeated; speak a word, and it shall not stand: for God (is) with us.