1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah {yehuwdah: southern kingdom}, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up against Jerusalem to make war {milchamah: armed conflict} against it, but they were not able to wage war against it.
2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Aram has joined forces {nacha: joined forces} with Ephraim,” and his heart and the heart of his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind {ruach: powerful force}.
3 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Sender} said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit {te’alah: water channel} of the upper pool on the highway to the fuller’s field.”
4 And you shall say to him, “Guard yourself {hishamer: protect yourself} and be calm; do not fear, and let your heart not be faint because of these two smoking tails {zanvot: projecting threats} at the burning anger of Rezin, Aram, and the son of Remaliah.”
5 Because Aram has planned evil {ra'ah: deliberate harm} against you, together with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying {lemor: formal report},
6 Let us go up against Judah, and let us terrify{neqitzennah: to strike with fear} it, and let us breach{navkienah: forcefully break through} it for ourselves, and let us set a king in its midst, the son of Tabeal.
7 Thus says the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Sovereign Pronouncer}: “It will not stand {takum: come to fruition}, nor will it be.”
8 For the head {rosh: chief city} of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered {yeḥat: completely broken} from being a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe {ta’aminu: have firm faith}, then surely you will not be established {te’amenu: be made secure}.
10 Then the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Messenger} spoke again to Ahaz, saying {le-emor: speech marker},
11 Ask for a sign from the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Sovereign Promise Giver}; make the petition as deep as the depths {amaq: deep realm} or as high as the heights.
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask {eshʾal: to seek a sign}, and I will not test the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge}.”
13 And he said, “Hear now {shimʿû-nā: hear with urgency}, house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men that you also weary my God {’ĕlōhay, Divine Judge}?”
14 Therefore the Lord {Adonai, Supreme Sovereign} Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin {almah: unmarried maiden} will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.
15 He will eat curds {hemah: curdled milk product} and honey when he knows to reject {maʼos: to turn away decisively} the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the boy {na'ar: young male} knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread {qats: dread intensely} because of its two kings shall be deserted and left without them.
17 The LORD {YHWH, National Judge} will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house days that have not come since the day when Ephraim turned away from Judah— the king of Assyria {Ashur: foreign oppressor}.
18 And it shall come to pass, in that day, that the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Summoner} will whistle for the fly {zevuv: small pest} that is at the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they will come and all of them will rest in the valleys {batot: desolate hollows} and in the crevices {vinqiqei: narrow fissures} of the rocks, and upon all the thorn bushes, and upon all the watercourses.
20 On that day the Lord {Adonai, Supreme Master} will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a hired razor {ta’ar: sharpened blade} brought from beyond the River by the king of Assyria, and He will also sweep away the beard.
21 And it shall be in that day that a man will sustain a heifer {eglat: young female cow} of cattle and two sheep {tzon: flock animal}.
22 And it shall be that from the abundance {merov: plentiful supply} of milk produced he will eat curds; for both curds and honey all the remnant {hanotar: surviving group} of the land shall eat.
23 And it shall be on that day that every place where there are a thousand {elef: thousand-unit} vines valued at a thousand pieces of silver will be briers {shamir: prickly shrub} and thorns.
24 With arrows and with a bow {qeshet: curved weapon} they will come there, for all the land will become brier {shamir: wild bramble} and thornbush.
25 And all the hills that are hoed with a hoe you will not come to for fear of brier {shamir: hard thorn} and thorn, but they will be for the sending forth of oxen and for the treading {mirmas: trampling} of sheep.