Isaiah 7 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Original 16th-century spelling.
1 And in the dayes of Ahaz, the sonne of Iotham, the sonne of Vzziah king of Iudah, Rezin the King of Aram came vp, and Pekah the sonne of Remaliah King of Israel, to Ierusalem to fight against it, but he could not ouercome it.
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 And it was tolde the house of Dauid, saying, Aram is ioyned with Ephraim: therefore his heart was moued, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moued by the winde.
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 sayde the Lord vnto Isaiah, Goe foorth nowe to meete Ahaz (thou and Sheariashub thy sonne) at the ende of the conduit of the vpper poole, in the path of the fullers fielde,
3 Then Yahweh 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 And say vnto him, Take heede, and be still: feare not, neither be faint hearted for the two tailes of these smoking firebrands, for the furious wrath of Rezin and of Aram, and of Remaliahs sonne:
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 Aram hath taken wicked counsell against thee, and Ephraim, and Remaliahs sonne, saying,
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,
6 Let vs goe vp against Iudah, and let vs waken them vp, and make a breach therein for vs, and set a King in the mids thereof, euen the sonne of Tabeal.
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 Thus sayth the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it be.
7 This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”
8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and within fiue and threescore yeere, Ephraim shalbe destroyed from being a people.
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 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne. If ye beleeue not, surely ye shall not be established.
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 And the Lord spake againe vnto Ahaz, saying,
10 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 Aske a signe for thee of the Lord thy God: aske it, either in the depth beneath or in the height aboue.
11 “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz sayd, I wil not aske, neither will I tempt the Lord.
12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt Yahweh.”
13 Then he sayd, Heare you nowe, O house of Dauid, Is it a small thing for you to grieue men, that ye will also grieue my God?
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 himselfe will giue you a signe. Beholde, the virgine shall conceiue and beare a sonne, and she shall call his name Immanu-el.
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 Butter and hony shall he eate, till he haue knowledge to refuse the euill, and to chuse the good.
15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For afore the childe shall haue knowledge to eschew the euill, and to chuse the good, the land, that thou abhorrest, shalbe forsaken of both her Kings.
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 shall bring vpon thee, and vpon thy people, and vpon thy fathers house (the dayes that haue not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Iudah) euen the King of Asshur.
17 Yahweh 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 And in that day shall the Lord hisse for the flie that is at the vttermost part of the floods of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the lande of Asshur,
18 It will happen in that day that Yahweh 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 And they shall come and shall light all in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rockes, and vpon all thorny places, and vpon all bushy places.
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 shall the Lord shaue with a rasor that is hired, euen by them beyond the Riuer, by the King of Asshur, the head and the heare of the feete, and it shall consume the beard.
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 And in the same day shall a man nourish a yong kow, and two sheepe.
21 It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep.
22 And for the abundance of milke, that they shall giue, hee shall eate butter: for butter and hony shall euery one eate, which is left within the land.
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 And at the same day euery place, wherein shalbe a thousand vines, shalbe at a thousand pieces of siluer: so it shalbe for the briers and for the thornes.
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 With arrowes and with bowe shall one come thither: because all the land shall be briers and thornes.
24 People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
25 But on all the mountaines, which shalbe digged with the mattocke, there shall not come thither the feare of briers and thornes: but they shalbe for the sending out of bullocks, and for the treading of sheepe.
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.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Ahaz
A faithless king who courted Assyria and even sacrificed his own son.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 16; 2 Chron. 28; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:9
Tabeal
Named only as the father of a man Aram and Ephraim planned to install as king over Judah.
Cited in the guide: Isaiah 7:6
Cross references (24)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Kings 15:37; 2 Kings 16:1; Isaiah 7:4–9; Isaiah 8:6; Psalm 83:3–5
- 2 Isaiah 8:12; Isaiah 7:13; Isaiah 9:9; Proverbs 28:1; 2 Kings 7:6–7
- 3 2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 36:2; Romans 9:27; Isaiah 6:13; Isaiah 10:21
- 4 Isaiah 35:4; Lamentations 3:26; Deuteronomy 20:3; Matthew 24:6; Isaiah 30:15
- 5 Psalm 83:3–4; Zechariah 1:15; Psalm 2:2; Nahum 1:11
- 7 Isaiah 8:10; Lamentations 3:37; Isaiah 46:10–11; Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 21:30
- 8 Isaiah 17:1–3; Genesis 14:15; 2 Samuel 8:6; Hosea 1:6–10; 2 Kings 17:5–23
- 9 Hebrews 11:6; Romans 11:20; 2 Chronicles 20:20; 1 John 5:10; Acts 27:25
- 10 Isaiah 8:5; Isaiah 1:5; Isaiah 10:20; Hosea 13:2; Isaiah 1:13
- 11 Isaiah 37:30; Isaiah 38:7–8; 2 Kings 19:29; Judges 6:36–40; Isaiah 38:22
- 12 2 Kings 16:15; Acts 5:9; Ezekiel 33:31; Malachi 3:15; Deuteronomy 6:16
- 13 Isaiah 43:24; Malachi 2:17; Hebrews 3:10; Jeremiah 6:11; Isaiah 63:10
- 14 Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:31; John 1:1–2; John 1:14
- 15 Isaiah 7:22; Amos 5:15; Philippians 1:9–10; Matthew 3:4; Romans 12:9
- 16 Isaiah 8:4; Deuteronomy 1:39; 2 Kings 16:9; Hosea 5:9; Amos 1:3–5
- 17 Isaiah 8:7–8; Isaiah 10:5–6; Isaiah 36:1–22; 2 Chronicles 33:11; 2 Chronicles 32:1–33
- 18 Isaiah 5:26; Deuteronomy 1:44; Isaiah 31:1; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12
- 19 Isaiah 2:19; Jeremiah 16:16; Isaiah 2:21; Micah 7:17; 2 Chronicles 33:11
- 20 Isaiah 8:7; Ezekiel 29:18; Ezekiel 5:1–4; Isaiah 10:15; Jeremiah 27:6–7
- 21 Isaiah 5:17; Jeremiah 39:10; Isaiah 17:2; Isaiah 37:30; Isaiah 7:25
- 22 Isaiah 7:15; Matthew 3:4; 2 Samuel 17:29
- 23 Isaiah 5:6; Song of Songs 8:11–12; Matthew 21:33; Hebrews 6:8; Jeremiah 4:26
- 24 Genesis 27:3
- 25 Isaiah 13:20–22; Isaiah 17:2; Isaiah 5:17; Isaiah 7:21–22; Zephaniah 2:6
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Isaiah 7:14: “a virgin” or “the young woman”?
The Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14 says ha-almah, “the young woman.” The Greek Septuagint, translated by Jews before the time of Christ, says hē parthenos, “the virgin,” and St Matthew quotes that Greek wording (Matthew 1:23). The Orthodox Church reads the Septuagint here, as the Apostles did. The faith in the virgin birth does not rest on one Hebrew word, but the word still deserves an honest look.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall say for His name, God with us.' " For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy …
5. And when He says, "Hear, O house of David," He performed the part of one indicating that He whom God promised David that He would raise up from the fruit of his belly (ventris) an eternal King, is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself of the lineage of David.
For so had the prophet foretold: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us." He did many miracles that He might commend God in Himself, some of which, even as many as seemed sufficient to proclaim Him, are contained in the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For he doth not merely say, "Behold, the Virgin shall be with child," but having first said, "Behold, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign," then he subjoins, "Behold, the Virgin shall be with child." Whereas, if she that was to give birth was not a virgin, but this happened in the way of marriage, what sort of sign …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
the virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)