Isaiah 7

A Message to Ahaz

¹Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.

²When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.

³Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, ⁴and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. ⁵For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying: ⁶‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’ ⁷But this is what the Lord Yahweh says:

‘It will not arise;

it will not happen.

• IS 7:7[PROPHECY]The plot of Aram and Israel would fail and Ephraim would be shattered within 65 years → 2KI 17:5-6; 2KI 17:24

⁸For the head of Aram is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years

Ephraim will be shattered as a people.

⁹The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,

then you will not stand at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel// Matthew 1:18–25

¹⁰Again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹“Ask for a sign from Yahweh your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”

¹²But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test Yahweh.”

¹³Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well? ¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel. ¹⁵By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey. ¹⁶For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

• IS 7:14[PROPHECY]He would be born of a virgin → LK 1:35
• IS 7:14[PROPHECY]He would be Immanuel → MT 1:18-23; 1TI 3:16
• IS 7:14[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → MT 1:23
• IS 7:14[ALMAH]The Hebrew word here is almah. About 250 BC, long before Jesus, Jewish scholars translating Isaiah into Greek wrote parthenos, which means virgin, and Matthew 1:23 quotes it that way. Almah shows up seven times in the Old Testament and is never clearly used for a married woman. Rebekah is called an almah in Genesis 24:43 before her wedding. The other side: many scholars say almah simply means young woman, and some Bibles like the RSV print that.
• IS 7:16[PROPHECY]Before a particular child knew good from evil, both Syria and Israel would be devastated → 2KI 16:9; 2KI 17:6

Judgment to Come// Micah 1:1–7

¹⁷Yahweh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

• IS 7:17[PROPHECY]God would bring the king of Assyria against Ahaz and Judah → 2CH 28:20; 2KI 18:13

¹⁸On that day Yahweh will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹And they will all come and settle

in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks,

in all the thornbushes and watering holes.

²⁰On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well. ²¹On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep, ²²and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.

²³And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth 25 pounds of silver, only briers and thorns will be found. ²⁴Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. ²⁵For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.