Isaiah (Douay: Isaias) 7

¹ In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

² David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.

³ Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field.

⁴ Tell him, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

⁵ Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,

⁶ “Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.”

⁷ This is what the Lord GOD says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”

⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people.

⁹ 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.’”

¹⁰ The LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

¹¹ “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”

¹² But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt the LORD.”

¹³ He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

¹⁵ He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.

¹⁶ For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

¹⁷ The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria.

¹⁸ It will happen in that day that the LORD will whistle 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 They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.

²⁰ In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.

²¹ It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep.

²² It shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter, for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left within the land.

²³ It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, will be for briers and thorns.

²⁴ People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.

²⁵ All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.”

¹ AAnd it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin king of Syria and Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it.

² And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller’s field.

⁴ And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these firebrands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia.

⁵ Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying:

⁶ Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof.

⁷ Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be.

⁸ But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people:

⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:

¹¹ Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above.

¹² And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.

¹³ And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

¹⁵ He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.

¹⁶ For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings.

¹⁷ The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

¹⁹ And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places.

²⁰ In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard.

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep.

²² And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land.

²³ And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers.

²⁴ With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land.

²⁵ And as for all the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon.