The Lord will give you a sign
1King Rezin from the land of Aram and King Pekah from the land_of_Israel came to Jerusalem to make war_against the city. It was in the time when Ahaz was king_of_Judah. Ahaz was the son of Jotham and Jotham was the son of Uzziah. Pekah was the son of Remaliah. The soldiers of Rezin and Pekah could not come into Jerusalem to attack the people. 2Ahaz was a descendant of King David, and when he heard that the Arameans were already in his land, and that the people of Ephraim had come with them, he and his people became afraid. They trembled like trees in the forest when the wind blows.
3The Lord said to Isaiah: ‘You and your son, Sear-Jashub, must go to King Ahaz. He is at the end of the channel that comes from the upper dam on the way to where the people wash their wool. 4You must say to Ahaz: “You must stay calm. Do not fear or worry because Rezin and Pekah want to attack you. They are worthless like 2 pieces of firewood that are only smoking after a fire has gone out. 5King Rezin and King Pekah have made plans to attack you. They said: 6“‘Let us go to Judah and defeat the land and Jerusalem, and then we will make the son of Tabeal king.”’
7But the Lord says: “‘This will not happen. Their plans will not succeed.”’ 8This is because Rezin is not important. He is only the chief of Damascus and Damascus is only a city in Aram. In 65 years the people of Ephraim will be destroyed. They will no longer be a nation. 9Pekah is also not important. He is not a descendant of King David. He is only the chief of Samaria and Samaria is only a city of Ephraim. But Ahaz, if you do not believe, you will all die. You will not live.” ’
The sign of Immanuel
10The Lord sent another message to King Ahaz. 11He told Isaiah to say to Ahaz: ‘You may ask the Lord your God to give you a sign, anything from the world of the dead people or from heaven.’
12But Ahaz said: ‘No, I don't want to ask the Lord for a sign. I don't want to test Him.’
13Isaiah said: ‘Listen, you who are descendants of King David, you are making me tired and now you also want to make my God tired. 14That is why the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is pregnant and expecting a baby. She will have a son and she will name him Immanuel. 15The boy will eat cream and honey and he will learn not to do anything bad. He will do only good. 16But before this happens, there will be no people living in the lands of these 2 kings that you are afraid of. 17Ahaz, the Lord will make you suffer, you and your people and your family. Bad things will happen to you, worse than anything that happened from the time that the people of Ephraim went away from the people of Judah. This will happen when the king of Assyria comes.
18On that day the Lord will whistle for the flies near the rivers in Egypt to come, and for the bees in the land of Assyria. 19They will all come and sit on the mountains and in the caves in the mountains and on all the bushes near all places where there is water.
20On that day the Lord will hire a sharp knife from the other side of the Euphrates River, and He will shave off all your hair, the hair on your head and on your body and your beard. You and your land will be naked. This sharp knife is the king of Assyria.
21On that day, if someone has only one young cow and 2 goats, 22they will give enough milk so that the man will have cream to eat. Yes, everyone who stays alive in the land will eat cream and honey.
23On that day every land that used to have a lot of vines, that were worth a lot of money, will be full of thorns and bushes. 24You will be able to shoot an arrow in there, but you will not be able to go in there because the whole land will become full of thorns and bushes. 25All the mountains will become full of thorns and bushes, where farmers had planted and sown seeds before. People will be afraid to go there. It will be a place where farmers will take their cattle, sheep and goats to eat and where they will trample everything.’
