Isaiah 7:9

Good News Translation

Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah. "If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.If you do not stand firm in your faith,then you will not stand at all.

Hebrew Names Version
and the head of Efrayim is Shomron, and the head of Shomron is Remalyahu's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

King James Version
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

English Standard Version
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'"

New American Standard Bible
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not last."'"

New Century Version
Israel is led by the city of Samaria, and Samaria is led by its weak king, the son of Remaliah. If your faith is not strong, you will not have strength enough to last.'"

Amplified Bible
"And the head (capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son [King Pekah]. If you will not believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established."'"

World English Bible
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne. If ye beleeue not, surely ye shall not be established.

Legacy Standard Bible
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not be established."'"

Berean Standard Bible
The 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."

Complete Jewish Bible
The head of Efrayim is Shomron, and the head of Shomron is the son of Remalyah. Without firm faith, you will not be firmly established."'"

Darby Translation
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye believe not, surely ye shall not be established.

Easy-to-Read Version
Ephraim depends on its capital Samaria, and Samaria is led by Remaliah's son. So you have no reason to fear. Believe this, or you will not survive."

George Lamsa Translation
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Romaliahs son. If you do not believe, surely you shall not understand.

Lexham English Bible
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe then you will not endure."'"

Literal Translation
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not be firm, surely you will not be established.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the chefe citie of Ephraim is Samaria, but the head of Samaria is Romelies sonne. And yf ye beleue not, there shall no promyse be kepte with you.

American Standard Version
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

Bible in Basic English
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not have faith, your kingdom will be broken.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not have faith, surely ye shall not be established.'

King James Version (1611)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne: if yee will not beleeue, surely yee shall not be established.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, but the head of Samaria is Romelies sonne: if ye beleue not, surely ye shall not be established.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the head of Ephraim is Somoron, and the head of Somoron the son of Romelias: but if ye believe not, neither will ye at all understand.

English Revised Version
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and Samarie shal faile to be the heed of Effraym, and the sone of Romelie `schal faile to be heed of Samarie. Forsothe if ye schulen not bileue, ye schulen not dwelle.

Update Bible Version
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria, and the head of Samaria [is] Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

New English Translation
Ephraim's leader is Samaria, and Samaria's leader is the son of Remaliah. If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure."

New King James Version
The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.""'

New Living Translation
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."

New Life Bible
The head of Ephraim is Samaria. And the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, for sure you will not last."'"

New Revised Standard
The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Even though the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And, the head of Samaria, is the son of Remaliah. If ye trust not, Surely, ye cannot be trusted!

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue.

Revised Standard Version
And the head of E'phraim is Sama'ria, and the head of Sama'ria is the son of Remali'ah. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

Young's Literal Translation
And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria, And the head of Samaria [is] the son of Remaliah. If ye do not give credence, Surely ye are not stedfast.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last."'"

Contextual Overview

¹ When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it. ² When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind. ³ The Lord said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. ⁴ Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood. ⁵ Syria, together with Israel and its king, has made a plot. ⁶ They intend to invade Judah, terrify the people into joining their side, and then put Tabeel's son on the throne. ⁷ "But I, the Lord , declare that this will never happen. ⁸ Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation. ⁹ Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah. "If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the head: 1 Kings 16:24-29, 2 Kings 15:27

If ye: etc. or, ye not believe, it is because ye are not stable, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Acts 27:11, Acts 27:25, Romans 11:20, Hebrews 11:6, 1 John 5:10

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:5 - That they Exodus 16:28 - General Exodus 19:9 - believe Numbers 20:12 - Because ye believed Deuteronomy 1:32 - General Deuteronomy 32:20 - children 1 Kings 12:26 - Now shall 2 Kings 7:2 - thou shalt see it 2 Kings 7:20 - General 2 Chronicles 28:6 - Pekah Psalms 78:22 - General Isaiah 7:8 - For the head Isaiah 9:9 - even Ephraim Isaiah 28:1 - whose Jeremiah 43:2 - Thou speakest Hosea 5:3 - Ephraim Hosea 13:16 - Samaria Mark 11:22 - Have Luke 1:20 - because Acts 16:5 - so Romans 4:20 - staggered

Cross-References

Genesis 2:19
So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names.

Genesis 7:6
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth.

Genesis 7:9
went into the boat with Noah, as God had commanded.

Genesis 7:11
When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened,

Genesis 7:12
and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights.

Genesis 7:16
as God had commanded. Then the Lord shut the door behind Noah.

Isaiah 65:25
Wolves and lambs will eat together; lions will eat straw, as cattle do, and snakes will no longer be dangerous. On Zion, my sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil."

Jeremiah 8:7
Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.

Galatians 3:28
So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11
As a result, there is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves, and free, but Christ is all, Christ is in all.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria,..... Samaria was the metropolis or chief city of Ephraim, or the ten tribes of Israel:

and the head of Samaria [is] Remaliah's son; Pekah, son of Remaliah, was king of Samaria, as of all Israel. The sense is, that, until the sixty five years were ended, there should be no enlargement of the kingdom of Israel; Judah should not be added to it; Samaria should continue, and not Jerusalem be the metropolis of it; and Pekah, during his life, should be king of Israel, but not of Judah.

If ye will not believe; the Targum adds,

"the words of the prophet;''

surely ye shall not be established, or remain g; that is, in their own land, but should be carried captive, as they were after a time; or it is, "because ye are not true and firm"; in the faith of God, as Kimchi interprets it; or, "because ye are not confirmed" h; that is, by a sign; wherefore it follows:

g כי לא תאמנו "non permanebitis", V. L. Cocceius. h "Quod non confirmamini", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the head of Ephraim - The capital city of Ephraim, or of Israel.

Is Samaria - This was long the capital of the kingdom of Israel. For a description of this city, see the notes at Isaiah 28:1. The meaning of the prophet is, that Samaria should continue to be the head of Ephraim; that is, Jerusalem should not be made its capital.

If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established - There is considerable variety in the interpretation of these words, though the general sense is evident. The Chaldee renders them, ‘If ye will not believe the words of the prophet, ye shall not remain.’ It is probable that Ahaz, who was greatly alarmed, and who trembled at the formidable power of Syria and Israel united, received the annunciation of the prophet with much distrust. He was anxious about the means of defense, but did not trust in the promise of God by the prophet. Isaiah, therefore, assures him, that if he did not believe him; if he did not put confidence in God, and his promises, he should not be protected from Syria and Ephraim. They would come and destroy his kingdom. ‘You have no occasion,’ is the language of the prophet, ‘to fear. God has resolved to protect you, and no portion of your land shall be taken by your enemies. Nevertheless, in order that you may obtain deliverance, you must believe his promise, and put your confidence in him, and not in the aid of the Assyrians. If you do this, your mind shall be calm, peaceful, and happy. But if you do “not” do this; if you rely on the aid of Assyria, you shall be troubled, alarmed, unsuccessful, and bring ruin upon yourself and nation.’ This, therefore, is an exhortation to confide solely in the promises of God, and is one of the instances constantly occurring in the Old Testament and the New, showing, that by faith or confidence in God only, can the mind he preserved calm when in the midst of dangers.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 7:9. Isaiah 7:8.