Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 81
7:4-22
I saiah
69
is washed. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the
fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pe
kah son of Remal iah. Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against
him, saying, ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we
will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’ But this is what the Sovereign
Lord says:
“This invasion will never happen;
it will never take place;
for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
it will be crushed and completely destroyed.
Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.”
Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the Lord your
God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as
high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”
But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”
Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough
to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as
well? All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The
virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him
Immanue l (which means ‘God is with us’). 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. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two
kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
“Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family
unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king
of Assyria upon you!”
In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and
for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.
They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the
desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. In that day the Lord will hire a
“razor” from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—and use
it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.
In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or
goats left. 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
