Study Desk

"Ask for a sign from the Lord your God to prove to yourself that these things are true. It may be a sign from as deep as the place of the dead or as high as the heavens."

Then Isaiah said, "Ahaz, descendant of David, listen carefully! Isn't it bad enough that you wear out the patience of people? Do you also have to wear out the patience of my God?

Make your plans for the fight, but they will be defeated. Give orders to your armies, but they will be useless, because God is with us.

Some people say, "Ask the mediums and fortune-tellers, who whisper and mutter, what to do." But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead?

People will wander through the land troubled and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry and will look up and curse their king and their God.

But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame, but in the future those lands will be made great. They will stretch from the road along the Mediterranean Sea to the land beyond the Jordan River and north to Galilee, the land of people who are not Israelites.

God, you have caused the nation to grow and made the people happy. And they have shown their happiness to you, like the joy during harvest time, like the joy of people taking what they have won in war.

A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.

The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob; it says that God will judge Israel.

Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria, will know that God has sent it. Those people are proud and brag by saying,

So the Lord is not happy with the young people, nor will he show mercy to the orphans and widows. All the people are separated from God and are very evil; they all speak lies. But the Lord is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

God says, "How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria. I use him like a rod to show my anger; in anger I use Assyria like a club.

I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God. I am angry with those people, so I command Assyria to fight against them, to take their wealth from them, to trample them down like dirt in the streets.

When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil things, so God will punish him.

So the Lord God All-Powerful will send a terrible disease upon Assyria's soldiers. The strength of Assyria will be burned up like a fire burning until everything is gone.

God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire; the Holy One will be like a flame. He will be like a fire that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.

Those who are left alive in Jacob's family will again follow the powerful God.

Israel, your people are many, like the grains of sand by the sea. But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord . God has announced that he will destroy the land completely and fairly.

The Lord God All-Powerful will certainly destroy this land, as he has announced.

This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "My people living in Jerusalem, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and raise a stick against you, as Egypt did.