Isaiah

And it came to pass 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 toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

1This happened when Ahaz was king of Judah. He was the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah. Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, marched up to attack Jerusalem, but they could not take it.

2And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

2Word came to the royal family of David: "Syria has joined forces with Ephraim, the northern kingdom of Israel." Then the king's heart shook, and so did the hearts of his people, like trees shaking in the wind.

3Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;

3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, and take your son Shear-jashub with you. Meet him where the water channel that feeds the upper pool ends, on the road to the field where cloth is washed.

4And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

4Say to him: Be careful, and stay calm. Do not be afraid. Do not lose heart over these two smoking stubs of firewood, over the burning anger of Rezin and Syria and of Remaliah's son.

5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

5Syria, Ephraim, and Remaliah's son have made an evil plan against you. They said,

6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

6'Let us march against Judah and terrify it. Let us break it open and split it between us. Then we will put the son of Tabeal on its throne.'

7Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

7But this is what the Lord GOD says: That plan will not stand. It will not happen.

8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

8Syria's chief city is Damascus, and the leader of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be smashed and will not be a people anymore.

9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

9Ephraim's chief city is Samaria, and the leader of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you will not trust God, you will not stand at all."

10Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

10The LORD spoke to Ahaz again. He said,

11Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

11"Ask the LORD your God for a sign. Ask for one as deep as the place of the dead or as high as the sky."

12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

12But Ahaz said, "I will not ask. I will not put the LORD to the test."

13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

13Then Isaiah said, "Listen now, royal family of David. Is it not enough that you wear out the patience of people? Must you wear out my God's patience too?

14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

14So the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look: the virgin will be pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.

Note"Immanuel" is a Hebrew name. It means "God is with us."

15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

15By the time he knows how to turn down what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey.

NoteThe KJV says "butter," but the word means curds: thick, soured milk, something like plain yogurt. It is not the butter we spread on bread.

16For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

16Before the boy knows how to turn down what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be left empty.

17The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

17The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father's family a time worse than any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria."

18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss 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.

18On that day the LORD will whistle for the flies from the far streams of Egypt, and for the bees from the land of Assyria.

19And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

19They will all come and settle in the steep valleys and the cracks in the rocks, on every thornbush and at every water hole.

20In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

20On that day the Lord will shave you with a razor he has hired from beyond the Euphrates River, the king of Assyria. It will shave your head and the hair on your legs, and take off your beard too.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

21On that day a man will keep alive one young cow and two sheep.

22And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

22They will give so much milk that he will eat curds. Everyone still left in the land will eat curds and honey.

23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

23On that day every place that held a thousand grapevines worth a thousand pieces of silver will be covered with briers and thorns.

NoteA "silverling" is a shekel, a weighed piece of silver used as money. A thousand of them was a large sum.

24With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

24People will go there carrying bows and arrows, because the whole land will be briers and thorns.

25And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

25As for the hills that were once dug with a hoe, you will not walk there, for fear of the briers and thorns. They will be places where oxen graze and sheep tramp about.