The Sign of Immanuel
1Ahaz was king of Judah. Rezin was king of Aram. And Pekah was king of Israel. Rezin and Pekah marched up to fight against Jerusalem. But they couldn’t overpower it. Ahaz was the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah. Pekah was the son of Remaliah.
2The royal family of Ahaz was told, “The army of Aram has joined forces with Ephraim’s army.” So the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled with fear. They shook just as trees in the forest shake when the wind blows through them.
3The Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out and see Ahaz. Take your son Shear-Jashub with you. Meet Ahaz at the end of the channel that brings water from the Upper Pool. It is on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 4Tell Ahaz, ‘Be careful. Stay calm. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope because of the great anger of Rezin, Aram and the son of Remaliah. After all, they are nothing but two pieces of smoking firewood. 5Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have planned to destroy you. They said, 6“Let’s march into Judah and attack it. Let’s tear everything down. Then we can share the land among ourselves. And we can make Tabeel’s son king over it.” 7But I am the Lord and King. I say,
“ ‘ “That will not happen.
It will not take place.
8The capital of Aram is Damascus.
And the ruler of Damascus is only Rezin.
Do not worry about the people of Ephraim.
They will be too crushed to be considered a people.
That will happen before 65 years are over.
9The capital of Ephraim is Samaria.
And the ruler of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.” ’ ”
10The Lord spoke to Ahaz through Isaiah again. He said, 11“I am the Lord your God. Ask me to give you a sign. It can be anything in the deepest grave or in the highest heaven.”
12But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t test the Lord.”
13Then Isaiah said, “Listen, you members of the royal family of David! Isn’t it enough for you to test the patience of human beings? Are you also going to test the patience of my God? 14The Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel. 15He will still be very young when he can decide between right and wrong. 16Even before then, the lands of the two kings you fear will be ruined. 17The Lord will also bring the king of Assyria against you. And he will bring him against your people and the whole royal family. That will be a time of trouble. It will be unlike any since the people of Ephraim broke away from Judah.”
The Lord Uses Assyria to Judge Judah
18At that time the Lord will whistle for the Egyptians. They will come like flies from the Nile River in Egypt. He will also whistle for the Assyrians. They will come from their country like bees. 19All of them will come and camp in the deep valleys. They will camp in caves in the rocks. And they’ll camp near bushes and water holes. 20At that time the Lord will use the Assyrians to punish you. Ahaz had hired them earlier from east of the Euphrates River. Now their king will be like a razor in the Lord’s hand. He will shave the hair from your head and private parts. He will also shave off your beards. 21At that time a person may only be able to keep alive one young cow and two goats. 22But they will give plenty of milk to live on. In fact, everyone left in the land will only have milk curds and honey to eat. 23The land used to have vineyards with 1,000 vines worth 25 pounds of silver. But soon the whole land will be covered with thorns and bushes. 24Hunters will go there with bows and arrows. That’s because it will be covered with bushes and thorns. 25All the hills used to be plowed with hoes. But you won’t go there anymore. That’s because you will be afraid of the thorns and bushes. Cattle will be turned loose on those hills. Sheep will also run there.
給亞哈斯王的信息
1烏西雅的孫子、約坦的兒子亞哈斯做猶大王時，亞蘭王利迅和利瑪利的兒子以色列王比加來攻打耶路撒冷，卻無法攻破。 2亞蘭和以色列結盟的消息傳到猶大王那裡，舉國上下都嚇得膽戰心驚，好像林中被風吹動的樹木。 3耶和華對以賽亞說：「你帶著兒子施亞雅述出去，到上池水溝的盡頭——通往漂布場的路上迎見亞哈斯， 4告訴他要謹慎鎮定，不要害怕，不要因亞蘭王利迅和利瑪利的兒子的怒氣而膽怯，他們不過是兩個冒煙的火把頭。 5亞蘭王和以法蓮及利瑪利的兒子陰謀毀滅他， 6企圖攻打並瓜分猶大，改立他比勒的兒子為王。 7但主耶和華說，
『這陰謀必無法得逞。
8亞蘭的都城是大馬士革，
大馬士革的首領是利迅。
六十五年之內，
以色列必亡國。
9以色列的都城是撒瑪利亞，
撒瑪利亞的首領是利瑪利的兒子。
你們信心若不堅定，
必無法堅立。』」
10耶和華又對亞哈斯說： 11「向你的上帝耶和華求個徵兆吧，或顯在天上，或顯在陰間。」 12但亞哈斯說：「我不求，我不要試探耶和華。」 13以賽亞說：「大衛的子孫啊，你們聽著！你們使人厭煩還不夠嗎？還要使我的上帝厭煩嗎？ 14所以，主會親自給你們一個徵兆，必有童貞女7·14 「童貞女」或譯「女子」。懷孕生子並給祂取名叫以馬內利7·14 「以馬內利」意思是「上帝與我們同在」。。 15他將吃乳酪和蜂蜜，一直到他能明辨是非。 16然而，在他能明辨是非之前，你所懼怕的這二王的國土必荒廢。
17「之後，耶和華必讓亞述王來攻擊你們。這是你全家及你的人民自以色列與猶大分裂以來從未有的日子。 18那時，耶和華的哨聲一響，埃及的大軍必像蒼蠅一樣從遙遠的尼羅河飛撲而來，亞述的人馬必如黃蜂一樣蜂擁而至， 19遍佈險峻的山谷、岩穴、一切荊棘叢和草場。 20那時，主必使用幼發拉底河對岸的亞述王來毀滅你們，就像用租來的剃刀剃光你們的頭髮、鬍鬚和身上的汗毛。
21「那時，一個人將養活一頭母牛和兩隻羊。 22因出產的奶豐富，他就有乳酪吃，境內剩下的人都將吃乳酪和蜂蜜。 23那時，本來有千株葡萄、價值千金的園子必長滿荊棘和蒺藜， 24人們必帶著弓箭去打獵，因為遍地長滿了荊棘和蒺藜。 25你因懼怕荊棘和蒺藜，將不再去從前用鋤頭開墾的山地，那裡將成為牧放牛羊的地方。」
