Isaiah's Message to Ahaz

7¹ 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. ² And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate [1] with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. ³ Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub [2] thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; ⁴ And 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. ⁵ Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, ⁶ Let us go up against Judah, and vex [3] it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: ⁷ Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. ⁸ For 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. ⁹ And 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.

¹⁰ Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. ¹² But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. ¹³ And 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? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call [4] his name Immanuel. ¹⁵ Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. ¹⁶ For 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.

¹⁷ The 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. ¹⁸ And 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. ¹⁹ And 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. [5] ²⁰ In 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. ²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; ²² And 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. [6] ²³ And 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. ²⁴ With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. ²⁵ And 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.

The LORD's Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3¹ For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, ² The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, ³ The captain of fifty, and the honourable [7] man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. ⁴ And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. ⁵ And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. ⁶ When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: ⁷ In that day shall he swear, [8] saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. ⁸ For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

⁹ The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. ¹⁰ Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. ¹¹ Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given [9] him. ¹² As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead [10] thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. ¹³ The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. ¹⁴ The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. ¹⁵ What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Judgment on the Daughters of Zion

¹⁶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton [11] eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: ¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover [12] their secret parts. ¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, [13] and their round tires like the moon, ¹⁹ The chains, [14] and the bracelets, and the mufflers, ²⁰ The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, [15] and the earrings, ²¹ The rings, and nose jewels, ²² The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, ²³ The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. ²⁴ And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. ²⁵ Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty [16] in the war. ²⁶ And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate [17] shall sit upon the ground.