Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(A)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(B)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(C)Pekah 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, ^(D)“Syria is in league with^{[a] (E)}Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[b] 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 ^(F)Shear-jashub^[c] your son, at the end of ^(G)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ^(H)‘Be careful, ^(I)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(J)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(K)the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(L)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[d] 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 ^(Q)a sign of the Lord your^[f] 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 he^[g] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(R)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(S)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(T)Behold, the ^(U)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(V)Immanuel.^{[h] 15} He shall eat ^(W)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (X)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(Y)deserted. ^17 (Z)The 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 ^(AA)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(AB)whistle 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 ^(AC)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[i]

²⁰ In that day ^(AD)the Lord will ^(AE)shave with a razor that is ^(AF)hired beyond ^(AG)the River^[j]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (AH)In 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 ^(AI)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[k] of silver, will become ^(AJ)briers and thorns. ^24 (AK)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (AL)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(AM)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(AN)and write on it in common characters,^[l] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^{[m] 2} And ^(AO)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(AP)Uriah 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, ^(AQ)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ^4 (AR)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(AS)wealth of ^(AT)Damascus and the spoil of ^(AU)Samaria 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 ^(AV)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(AW)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(AX)the waters of ^(AY)the River,^[n] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(AZ)will 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, ^(BA)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(BB)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(BC)O Immanuel.”

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(BG)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call ^(BH)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(BI)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, ^(BJ)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a ^(BK)sanctuary and ^(BL)a 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 ^(BM)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶ Bind up ^(BN)the testimony; ^(BO)seal the teaching^[r] among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will ^(BP)wait for the Lord, who is ^(BQ)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ^18 (BR)Behold, I and ^(BS)the 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 ^(BT)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(BU)the dead on behalf of the living? ^20 (BV)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(BW)dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land,^[s] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[t] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ^22 (BX)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(BY)thick darkness.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

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

^(B)“You yourselves know ^(C)how I lived among you the whole time ^(D)from the first day that I set foot in Asia, ^19 (E)serving the Lord ^(F)with all humility and with ^(G)tears and with trials that happened to me through ^(H)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(I)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^(J)teaching you in public and from house to house, ^21 (K)testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^(L)repentance toward God and of ^(M)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.^{[a] 22} And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^(N)by^[b] the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(O)the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^(P)imprisonment and ^(Q)afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(R)I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^(S)I may finish my course and ^(T)the ministry ^(U)that I received from the Lord Jesus, ^(V)to testify to ^(W)the gospel of ^(X)the grace of God. ²⁵ And now, behold, ^(Y)I know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^(Z)proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. ²⁶ Therefore ^(AA)I testify to you this day that ^(AB)I am innocent of the blood of all, ²⁷ for ^(AC)I did not shrink from declaring to you ^(AD)the whole counsel of God. ^28 (AE)Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^(AF)the flock, in which ^(AG)the Holy Spirit has made you ^(AH)overseers, ^(AI)to care for ^(AJ)the church of God,^[c] which he ^(AK)obtained ^(AL)with his own blood.^{[d] 29} I ^(AM)know that after my departure ^(AN)fierce wolves will come in among you, ^(AO)not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and ^(AP)from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore ^(AQ)be alert, remembering that ^(AR)for three years I did not cease night or day ^(AS)to admonish every one ^(AT)with tears. ³² And now ^(AU)I commend you to God and to ^(AV)the word of his grace, which is able to ^(AW)build you up and to give you ^(AX)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (AY)I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ^34 (AZ)You yourselves know that ^(BA)these hands ministered to my necessities and ^(BB)to those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things ^(BC)I have shown you that ^(BD)by working hard in this way we must ^(BE)help the weak and ^(BF)remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^(BG)to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ And when he had said these things, ^(BH)he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^(BI)there was much weeping on the part of all; ^(BJ)they embraced Paul and ^(BK)kissed him, ³⁸ being sorrowful most of all because of ^(BL)the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And ^(BM)they accompanied him to the ship.