A Message to Ahaz

1And 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, came up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but they were not able to fight against it. 2And it was told the house of David saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim. Then his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind.

3And Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field; 4and thou shalt say unto him, Take heed and be quiet; fear not, and let not thy heart faint before these two ends of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5Inasmuch as Syria hath taken evil counsel against thee, Ephraim [also] and the son of Remaliah, saying, 6Let us go up against Judah, and harass it, and make a breach therein for us, and set up a king therein -- the son of Tabeal; 7thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, nor come to pass; 8for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken, so as to be no [more a] people; 9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye believe not, surely ye shall not be established.

The Sign of Immanuel

(Micah 5:1-6; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7)

10And Jehovah spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God; ask for it in the deep, or in the height above. 12And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and will not tempt Jehovah. 13And he said, Hear then, house of David: Is it a small matter for you to weary men, that ye weary also my God? 14Therefore will the Lord himself give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel. 15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. 16For before the child knoweth to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land whose two kings thou fearest shall be forsaken.

Judgment to Come

(Micah 1:1-7)

17Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days which have not come since the day when Ephraim turned away from Judah -- [even] the king of Assyria.

18And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will hiss for the fly which is at the extremity of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria; 19and they shall come and settle all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and on all thorn-bushes, and on all the pastures.

20In that day will the Lord, with a razor which is hired beyond the river, with the king of Assyria, shave the head and the hair of the feet, yea, the beard also will it take away.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, 22and it shall come to pass, from the abundance of milk they shall give, [that] he shall eat butter; for every one that remaineth in the midst of the land shall eat butter and honey.

23And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver pieces, shall become briars and thorns: 24with arrows and with the bow shall they come thither, for the whole land shall become briars and thorns. 25And all mountains that have been dug up with the hoe -- thither will they not come, from fear of briars and thorns; and they shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of small cattle.