Isaiah · Majority Standard Bible
Isaiah 7 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now 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.
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 When 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.
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 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,
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 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.
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 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, 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.’
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 But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen.
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. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as 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 The 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.’”
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 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,
10 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
11 “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t tempt Yahweh.”
13 Then 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?
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 be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
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 By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
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 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.”
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 On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
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 will all come and settle in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes and watering holes.
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 On 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.
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 On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
21 It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep.
22 and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
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 on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
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 Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
24 People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
25 For 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.
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
Shear-jashub
Isaiah's son whom the LORD told him to bring to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct.
Cited in the guide: Isaiah 7:3
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)