Yasha'Yahu (Isaiah) — 7

A Message for Ahaz

1 When Ahaz, son of Yutham and grandson of Uzzyahu, was king of Yahudah, King Razin of Syria and Pakah son of Ramalyahu, the king of Yashar'AL, set out to attack Yahushalam. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.

2 The news had come to the royal court of Yahudah: “Syria is allied with Yashar'AL against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.

3 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar to Yashayahu, “Take your son Shaar-yashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. 

4 Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he does not need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Razin of Syria and Pakah son of Remalyahu. 

5 Yes, the kings of Syria and Yashar'AL are plotting against him, saying, 

6 ‘We will attack Yahudah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabaal as Yahudah’s king.’ 

7 But this is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar: “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place;

8 for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king Razin, As for Yashar'AL, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed.

9 Yashar'AL is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pakah son of Remalyahu, Unless your Amunah (faith) is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”

The Sign of Immanu'AL

10 Later, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH sent this message to King Ahaz: 

11 “Ask 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH your 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want, as high as Shamaym or as deep as the place of the dead.”

12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH like that.”

13 Then Yashayahu said, “Listen well, you royal family of Daud! Is it not enough to exhaust man's patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH as well? 

14 All right then, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanu'AL (which means ‘𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH is with us’). 

15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. 

16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

17 “Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Yashar'AL broke away from Yahudah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

18 In that day 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH will whistle for the army of southern Mitzraym and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. 

19 They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. 

20 In that day 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River and the king of Assyria will use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.

21 In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. 

22 Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. 

23 In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns. 

24 The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. 

25 No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.