- 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. And it was told to 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.
- Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz — you, and Shear-jashub [A remnant shall repent/return] your son — at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. And say unto him, Take heed and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah, because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have taken evil counsel against you, saying, Let 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, yea, the son of Tabeal. Thus says the Lord: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rezin. And within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.
- Moreover, the Lord spoke again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I test the Lord. And he said, Hear now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings. The Lord shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah — the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the outermost part of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 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. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired — 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. And it shall come to pass, in that day, a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep. And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk they shall give, he shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land. And it shall come to pass, in that day, every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand pieces of silver, which shall be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come there because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not come there the fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and the treading of lesser cattle.
- Moreover, the word of the Lord said unto me, Take a great scroll, and write on it in common script: Maher-shalal-hash-baz [Hasten the plunder, hurry the spoil]. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record — Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For behold, the child shall not have knowledge to cry, My father and my mother — before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
- The Lord spoke also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuse the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, now therefore behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory. And he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks, and he shall pass through Judah. He shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel. Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces. And give ear, all you of far countries: Gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us.
- For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say not, A conspiracy — to all to whom this people shall say, A conspiracy; neither fear their fear nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread, and he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
- Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter — should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to hear from the dead — to the law and to the testimony? And if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. And they shall pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and shall be driven to darkness.
Chapter 3