Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

1 In the days of ^mAhaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ⁿRezin the king of Syria and ⁿPekah 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. 2 When the house of David was told, ^o“Syria is in league with^{1 p}Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz² and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

3 And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^qShear-jashub³ your son, at the end of ^rthe conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 4 And say to him, ^s‘Be careful, ^tbe quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^usmoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^vthe son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^vthe son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it⁴ for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord God:

The Sign of Immanuel

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask ^aa sign of the Lord your⁶ God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he⁷ said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^bweary my God also? 14 Therefore the ^cLord himself will give you a sign. ^dBehold, the ^evirgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^fImmanuel.⁸ 15 He shall eat ^gcurds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 ^hFor before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ⁱdeserted. 17 ^jThe 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 ^kEphraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

18 In that day the Lord will ^lwhistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^min the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.⁹

20 In that day ⁿthe Lord will ^oshave with a razor that is ^phired beyond ^qthe River¹⁰—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

21 ^rIn that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^scurds and honey.

23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels¹¹ of silver, will become ^tbriers and thorns. 24 ^uWith bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 ^vAnd as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^tof briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^wand write on it in common characters,¹² ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’¹³ 2 And ^xI will get reliable witnesses, ^yUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^z“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 ^afor before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^awealth of ^bDamascus and the spoil of ^bSamaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of ^cShiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^dRezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^ethe waters of ^fthe River,¹⁴ mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^gwill rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^hreaching even to the neck, and its ⁱoutspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^jO Immanuel.”

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ⁿwarned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call ^oconspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^pdo not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, ^qhim you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a ^rsanctuary and ^sa stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many ^tshall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up ^uthe testimony; ^vseal the teaching¹⁸ among my disciples. 17 I will ^wwait for the Lord, who is ^xhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 ^yBehold, I and ^zthe children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^amediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^bthe dead on behalf of the living? 20 ^cTo the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^ddawn. 21 They will pass through the land,¹⁹ greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against²⁰ their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 ^eAnd they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^fthick darkness.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ⁱthe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

^j“You yourselves know ^khow I lived among you the whole time ^jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 ^lserving the Lord ^mwith all humility and with ⁿtears and with trials that happened to me through ^othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I ^pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 ^rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^srepentance toward God and of ^tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.¹ 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^uby² the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that ^vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^wimprisonment and ^xafflictions await me. 24 But ^yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^zI may finish my course and ^athe ministry ^bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, ^cto testify to ^dthe gospel of ^ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, ^fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore ^hI testify to you this day that ⁱI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for ^jI did not shrink from declaring to you ^kthe whole counsel of God. 28 ^lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^mthe flock, in which ⁿthe Holy Spirit has made you ^ooverseers, ^pto care for ^qthe church of God,³ which he ^robtained ^swith his own blood.⁴ 29 I ^rknow that after my departure ^tfierce wolves will come in among you, ^unot sparing the flock; 30 and ^vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore ^wbe alert, remembering that ^xfor three years I did not cease night or day ^yto admonish every one ^zwith tears. 32 And now ^aI commend you to God and to ^bthe word of his grace, which is able to ^cbuild you up and to give you ^dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 ^eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 ^fYou yourselves know that ^gthese hands ministered to my necessities and ^hto those who were with me. 35 In all things ⁱI have shown you that ^jby working hard in this way we must ^khelp the weak and ^lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^mto give than to receive.’”

36 And when he had said these things, ⁿhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And ^othere was much weeping on the part of all; ^pthey embraced Paul and ^pkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of ^qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And ^rthey accompanied him to the ship.