Chapter 6
1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” 4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.” 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!” 9And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. ” 11Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged, 12until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
Chapter 7
1Now 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. 2When 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. 3Then 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, 4and 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. 5For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, 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.’ 7But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen. 8For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people. 9The 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.’ ” 10Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.” 12But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.” 13Then 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? 14Therefore 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. 15By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey. 16For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17The 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.” 18On 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. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes and watering holes. 20On 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. 21On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep, 22and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. 23And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found. 24Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. 25For 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.
Chapter 8
1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” 3And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” 5And the LORD spoke to me further: 6“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates — the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks. 8It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel! 9Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered! 10Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us. ” 11For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people: 12“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread. 13The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded. 14 And He will be a sanctuary— but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare. 15 Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.” 16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him. 18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.