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In the days of 1Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, 2Rezin the king of Syria and 3Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.
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When the house of David was told, 4"Syria is in league witha5Ephraim," the heart of Ahazb and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
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And the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and 6Shear-jashubc your son, at the end of 7the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field.
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And say to him, 8'Be careful, 9be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two 10smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and 11the son of Remaliah.
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Because Syria, with Ephraim and 12the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying,
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"Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer itd for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,"
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thus says the Lord GOD: 13"'It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
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For the head of Syria is 14Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
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And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is 15the son of Remaliah. 16If youe are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'"
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"Ask 17a sign of the LORD yourf God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."
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But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test."
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And heg said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you 18weary my God also?
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Therefore the 19Lord himself will give you a sign. 20Behold, the 21virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name 22Immanuel.h
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He shall eat 23curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
1624For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be 25deserted.
1726The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that 27Ephraim departed from Judah--the king of Assyria."
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In that day the LORD will 28whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
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And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and 29in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.i
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In that day 30the Lord will 31shave with a razor that is 32hired beyond 33the River--with the king of Assyria--the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
2134In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep,
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and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat 35curds and honey.
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In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekelsj of silver, will become 36briers and thorns.
2437With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.
2538And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear 39of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.