Isaiah 7 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~735-734 BC, during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah
Location
Jerusalem, Kingdom of Judah
Audience
King Ahaz and the leaders/people of Judah
Situation
The kings of Aram (Syria) and Israel (Ephraim) allied to invade Judah, depose Ahaz, and install a puppet king, causing panic in Jerusalem. God sent Isaiah to reassure Ahaz that their plans would fail within 65 years.
Key Background
This occurred during the Syro-Ephraimite War, as Aram and Israel tried to coerce Judah into an anti-Assyrian alliance, but Ahaz refused and sought Assyrian aid instead. Assyria later conquered both Aram and Israel. The chapter features the famous Immanuel prophecy ('God with us'), interpreted as both a sign for Ahaz and a messianic prediction fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
During the reign of son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of King Rezin of and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, marched against Jerusalem to attack it — but they couldn't overpower it.
When the of was told, "Aram has allied with the king's heart and his people's hearts in the in the
Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz — you and your son — at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the on the road to the Launderer's Field.
Tell him: Stay calm. Don't be afraid. Don't let your heart go weak over these two of — over Rezin and Aram's fury, and over the of
Yes, Aram has plotted your downfall, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying:
"Let's invade Judah and terrorize it. Let's it for ourselves and install the of as its king."
This is what the says: It will not stand. It will not happen.
Because the of Aram is Damascus, and the of Damascus is just Rezin. (Within sixty-five years, Ephraim will be shattered — no longer a people.)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is just the son of Remaliah. If you do not in faith, you will not at all."
Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz:
"Ask Yahweh your God for a — anything. Go as deep as the or as high as the heavens."
But Ahaz said, "I won't ask. I won't Yahweh."
Then Isaiah said, "Listen now, house of David! Isn't it enough that you the of people? Must you the of my God too?
Alright then — the Lord himself will give you a Look — the is pregnant and is about to have a son, and she will name him
He will eat and by the time he knows enough to what is and what is
Because before the boy knows enough to reject what is harmful and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be
Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days unlike anything since from — the of
On that day, Yahweh will for the at the far reaches of Egypt's rivers and for the in the land of Assyria.
They will all come and in the steep ravines, in the rock crevices, on every thornbush, and at every watering hole.
On that day, the Lord will use a from the — the king of Assyria — to shave your head, the hair of your legs, and strip off your beard too.
On that day, a man will keep alive one young cow and two goats —
and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat Everyone left in the land will eat and
On that day, every place where there were a a of will be nothing but thornbushes and weeds.
People will go there with and because the whole land will be thornbushes and weeds.
And all the hills that were once with a — you won't go there anymore for fear of the thornbushes and weeds. They'll become where cattle roam and sheep trample.