Oracles for Judah and Israel#
Pre-reading#
Idea/question/discussion point spreadsheet).
Read Isaiah, chapters 6-12
¹ In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. ² Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. ³ One cried out to the other:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
⁴ At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
⁵ Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
⁷ He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” ⁹ And he replied: Go and say to this people:
Listen carefully, but do not understand!
Look intently, but do not perceive!
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people sluggish,
dull their ears and close their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and their heart understand,
and they turn and be healed.
¹¹ “How long, O Lord?” I asked. And he replied:
Until the cities are desolate,
without inhabitants,
Houses, without people,
and the land is a desolate waste.
¹² Until the Lord sends the people far away,
and great is the desolation in the midst of the land.
¹³ If there remain a tenth part in it,
then this in turn shall be laid waste;
As with a terebinth or an oak
whose trunk remains when its leaves have fallen.
Holy offspring is the trunk.
¹ In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. ² When word came to the house of David that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not fear; do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands, the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah— ⁵ because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you. They say, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
⁷ Thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand, it shall not be!
⁸ The head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
Within sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm,
you shall not be firm!
¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as Sheol, or high as the sky! ¹² But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” ¹³ Then he said: Listen, house of David! Is it not enough that you weary human beings? Must you also weary my God? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel. ¹⁵ Curds and honey he will eat so that he may learn to reject evil and choose good; ¹⁶ for before the child learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted.
¹⁷ The Lord shall bring upon you and your people and your father’s house such days as have not come since Ephraim seceded from Judah (the king of Assyria). ¹⁸ On that day
The Lord shall whistle
for the fly in the farthest streams of Egypt,
and for the bee in the land of Assyria.
¹⁹ All of them shall come and settle
in the steep ravines and in the rocky clefts,
on all thornbushes and in all pastures.
²⁰ On that day the Lord shall shave with the razor hired from across the River (the king of Assyria) the head, and the hair of the feet; it shall also shave off the beard.
²¹ On that day a man shall keep alive a young cow or a couple of sheep, ²² and from their abundant yield of milk he shall eat curds; curds and honey shall be the food of all who are left in the land. ²³ On that day every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver shall become briers and thorns. ²⁴ One shall have to go there with bow and arrows, for all the country shall be briers and thorns. ²⁵ But as for all the hills which were hoed with a mattock, for fear of briers and thorns you will not go there; they shall become a place for cattle to roam and sheep to trample.
¹ The Lord said to me: Take a large tablet, and inscribe on it with an ordinary stylus, “belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” ² and call reliable witnesses for me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of Jeberechiah.
³ Then I went to the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son. The Lord said to me: Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, ⁴ for before the child learns to say, “My father, my mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be carried off by the king of Assyria.
⁵ Again the Lord spoke to me:
⁶ Because this people has rejected
the waters of Shiloah that flow gently,
And melts with fear at the display of Rezin and Remaliah’s son,
⁷ Therefore the Lord is bringing up against them
the waters of the River, great and mighty,
the king of Assyria and all his glory.
It shall rise above all its channels,
and overflow all its banks.
⁸ It shall roll on into Judah,
it shall rage and pass on—
up to the neck it shall reach.
But his outspread wings will fill
the width of your land, Emmanuel!
⁹ Band together, O peoples, but be shattered!
Give ear, all you distant lands!
Arm yourselves, but be shattered! Arm yourselves, but be shattered!
¹⁰ Form a plan, it shall be thwarted;
make a resolve, it shall not be carried out,
for “With us is God!”
¹¹ For thus said the Lord—his hand strong upon me—warning me not to walk in the way of this people:
¹² Do not call conspiracy what this people calls conspiracy,
nor fear what they fear, nor feel dread.
¹³ But conspire with the Lord of hosts;
he shall be your fear, he shall be your dread.
¹⁴ He shall be a snare,
a stone for injury,
A rock for stumbling
to both the houses of Israel,
A trap and a snare
to those who dwell in Jerusalem;
¹⁵ And many among them shall stumble;
fallen and broken;
snared and captured.
¹⁶ Bind up my testimony, seal the instruction with my disciples. ¹⁷ I will trust in the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob; yes, I will wait for him. ¹⁸ Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me: we 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 ghosts and soothsayers who chirp and mutter; should not a people inquire of their gods, consulting the dead on behalf of the living, ²⁰ for instruction and testimony?” Surely, those who speak like this are the ones for whom there is no dawn.
²¹ He will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry,
and when hungry, shall become enraged,
and curse king and gods.
He will look upward,
²² and will gaze at the earth,
But will see only distress and darkness,
oppressive gloom,
murky, without light.
²³ There is no gloom where there had been distress. Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations.
¹ The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
Upon those who lived in a land of gloom
a light has shone.
² You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing;
They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest,
as they exult when dividing the spoils.
³ For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
The rod of their taskmaster,
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
⁴ For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for fire.
⁵ For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
⁶ His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!
⁷ The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it falls upon Israel;
⁸ And all the people know it—
Ephraim and those who dwell in Samaria—
those who say in arrogance and pride of heart,
⁹ “Bricks have fallen,
but we will rebuild with cut stone;
Sycamores have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
¹⁰ So the Lord raises up their foes against them
and stirs up their enemies to action—
¹¹ Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west—
they devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
and his hand is still outstretched!
¹² The people do not turn back to the one who struck them,
nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
¹³ So the Lord cuts off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day.
¹⁴ (The elder and the noble are the head,
the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.)
¹⁵ Those who lead this people lead them astray,
and those who are led are swallowed up.
¹⁶ That is why the Lord does not spare their young men,
and their orphans and widows he does not pity;
For they are totally impious and wicked,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched!
¹⁷ For wickedness burns like fire,
devouring brier and thorn;
It kindles the forest thickets,
which go up in columns of smoke.
¹⁸ At the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land quakes,
and the people are like fuel for fire;
no one spares his brother.
¹⁹ They hack on the right, but remain hungry;
they devour on the left, but are not filled.
Each devours the flesh of the neighbor;
²⁰ Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
together they turn on Judah.
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched!
¹ Ah! Those who enact unjust statutes,
who write oppressive decrees,
² Depriving the needy of judgment,
robbing my people’s poor of justice,
Making widows their plunder,
and orphans their prey!
³ What will you do on the day of punishment,
when the storm comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth,
⁴ Lest it sink beneath the captive
or fall beneath the slain?
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched!
⁵ Ah! Assyria, the rod of my wrath,
the staff I wield in anger.
⁶ Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and to trample them like the mud of the street.
⁷ But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of not a few nations.
⁸ For he says, “Are not my commanders all kings?”
⁹ “Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
or Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ Just as my hand reached out to idolatrous kingdoms
that had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria—
¹¹ Just as I treated Samaria and her idols,
shall I not do to Jerusalem and her graven images?”
¹² But when the Lord has brought to an end all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
I will punish the utterance
of the king of Assyria’s proud heart,
and the boastfulness of his haughty eyes.
¹³ For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a mighty one, I have brought down the enthroned.
¹⁴ My hand has seized, like a nest,
the wealth of nations.
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
¹⁵ Will the ax boast against the one who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above the one who wields it?
As if a rod could sway the one who lifts it,
or a staff could lift the one who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send leanness among his fat ones,
And under his glory there will be a kindling
like the kindling of fire.
¹⁷ The Light of Israel will become a fire,
the Holy One, a flame,
That burns and consumes its briers
and its thorns in a single day.
¹⁸ And the glory of its forests and orchards
will be consumed, soul and body,
and it will be like a sick man who wastes away.
¹⁹ And the remnant of the trees in his forest
will be so few,
that any child can record them.
²⁰ On that day
The remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no more lean upon the one who struck them;
But they will lean upon the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
²¹ A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
to the mighty God.
²² Though your people, O Israel,
were like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant of them will return;
their destruction is decreed,
as overflowing justice demands.
²³ For the Lord, the God of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction decreed in the midst of the whole land.
²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: My people, who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian, though he strikes you with a rod, and raises his staff against you as did the Egyptians. ²⁵ For just a brief moment more, and my wrath shall be over, and my anger shall be set for their destruction. ²⁶ Then the Lord of hosts will raise against them a scourge such as struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt. ²⁷ On that day,
His burden shall be taken from your shoulder,
and his yoke shattered from your neck.
He has come up from Rimmon,
²⁸ he has reached Aiath, passed through Migron,
at Michmash he has stored his supplies.
²⁹ He has crossed the ravine,
at Geba he has camped for the night.
Ramah trembles,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry and shriek, Bath-Gallim!
Hearken, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
³² Even today he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mount of daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem!
³³ Now the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
is about to lop off the boughs with terrible violence;
The tall of stature shall be felled,
and the lofty ones shall be brought low;
³⁴ He shall hack down the forest thickets with an ax,
and Lebanon in its splendor shall fall.
¹ But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
² The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
³ and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
⁴ But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
⁵ Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
⁶ Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
⁸ The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
⁹ They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.
¹⁰ On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the peoples—
Him the nations will seek out;
his dwelling shall be glorious.
¹¹ On that day,
The Lord shall again take it in hand
to reclaim the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria and Egypt,
Pathros, Ethiopia, and Elam,
Shinar, Hamath, and the isles of the sea.
¹² He shall raise a signal to the nations
and gather the outcasts of Israel;
The dispersed of Judah he shall assemble
from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ The envy of Ephraim shall pass away,
and those hostile to Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not be hostile to Ephraim;
¹⁴ But they shall swoop down on the foothills
of the Philistines to the west,
together they shall plunder the people of the east;
Edom and Moab shall be their possessions,
and the Ammonites their subjects.
¹⁵ The Lord shall dry up the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and wave his hand over the Euphrates with his fierce wind,
And divide it into seven streamlets,
so that it can be crossed in sandals.
¹⁶ There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
As there was for Israel
when it came up from the land of Egypt.
¹ On that day, you will say:
I give you thanks, O Lord;
though you have been angry with me,
your anger has abated, and you have consoled me.
² God indeed is my salvation;
I am confident and unafraid.
For the Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has been my salvation.
³ With joy you will draw water
from the fountains of salvation,
⁴ And you will say on that day:
give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name;
Among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
⁵ Sing praise to the Lord for he has done glorious things;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
⁶ Shout with exultation, City of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
¹ In the year that King Uzzi′ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
⁶ Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” ⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
‘Hear and hear, but do not understand;
see and see, but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people fat,
and their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
¹¹ Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without men,
and the land is utterly desolate,
¹² and the Lord removes men far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
¹³ And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
¹ In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzzi′ah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. ² When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with E′phraim,” his heart 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 forth to meet Ahaz, you and She′ar-jash′ub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remali′ah. ⁵ Because Syria, with E′phraim and the son of Remali′ah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Ta′be-el as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years E′phraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
⁹ And the head of E′phraim is Samar′ia,
and the head of Samar′ia is the son of Remali′ah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established.’”
¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your 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 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el. ¹⁵ He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶ For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. ¹⁷ 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 E′phraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
¹⁸ In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly which is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
²⁰ In that day the Lord will shave with a razor which is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
²¹ In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of milk which they give, he will eat curds; for every one that is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. ²⁴ With bow and arrows men will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; ²⁵ and as for all the hills which used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
¹ Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write upon it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Ma′her-shal′al-hash′baz.’” ² And I got reliable witnesses, Uri′ah the priest and Zechari′ah the son of Jeberechi′ah, to attest for me. ³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Ma′her-shal′al-hash′baz; ⁴ for before the child knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samar′ia will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
⁵ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶ “Because this people have refused the waters of Shilo′ah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remali′ah; ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it 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, reaching even to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Imman′u-el.”
⁹ Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed;
give ear, all you far countries;
gird yourselves and be dismayed;
gird yourselves and be dismayed.
¹⁰ Take counsel together, but it will come to nought;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary, and 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 shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸ Behold, I and 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, “Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; ²² and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
¹ But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
² The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
³ Thou hast multiplied the nation,
thou hast increased its joy;
they rejoice before thee
as with joy at the harvest,
as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
thou hast broken as on the day of Mid′ian.
⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,
to establish it, and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
⁸ The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will light upon Israel;
⁹ and all the people will know,
E′phraim and the inhabitants of Samar′ia,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰ “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹ So the Lord raises adversaries against them,
and stirs up their enemies.
¹² The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹³ The people did not turn to him who smote them,
nor seek the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵ the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶ for those who lead this people lead them astray,
and those who are led by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for every one is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹⁸ For wickedness burns like a fire,
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is burned,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no man spares his brother.
²⁰ They snatch on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours his neighbor’s flesh,
²¹ Manas′seh E′phraim, and E′phraim Manas′seh,
and together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹ Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³ What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the storm which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
⁵ Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger,
the staff of my fury!
⁶ Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷ But he does not so intend,
and his mind does not so think;
but it is in his mind to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
⁸ for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹ Is not Calno like Car′chemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samar′ia like Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samar′ia,
¹¹ shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samar′ia and her images?”
¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. ¹³ For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing,
or opened the mouth, or chirped.”
¹⁵ Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame;
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
²⁰ In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹ A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. ²² For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. ²³ For the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they smite with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. ²⁵ For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. ²⁶ And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Mid′ian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. ²⁷ And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.”
He has gone up from Rimmon,
²⁸ he has come to Ai′ath;
he has passed through Migron,
at Michmash he stores his baggage;
²⁹ they have crossed over the pass,
at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles,
Gib′e-ah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
Hearken, O La′ishah!
Answer her, O An′athoth!
³¹ Madme′nah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
³² This very day he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist
at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
³³ Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts
will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.
¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,
and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.
⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
¹⁰ In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.
¹¹ In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
¹² He will raise an ensign for the nations,
and will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ The jealousy of E′phraim shall depart,
and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
E′phraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not harass E′phraim.
¹⁴ But they shall swoop down upon the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy
the tongue of the sea of Egypt;
and will wave his hand over the River
with his scorching wind,
and smite it into seven channels
that men may cross dryshod.
¹⁶ And there will be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant which is left of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.
¹ You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to thee, O Lord,
for though thou wast angry with me,
thy anger turned away,
and thou didst comfort me.
² “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the nations,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Discussion points#
Answering the call#
¹ In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. ² Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. ³ One cried out to the other:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
⁴ At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
⁵ Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
⁷ He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” ⁹ And he replied: Go and say to this people:
Listen carefully, but do not understand!
Look intently, but do not perceive!
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people sluggish,
dull their ears and close their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and their heart understand,
and they turn and be healed.
¹¹ “How long, O Lord?” I asked. And he replied:
Until the cities are desolate,
without inhabitants,
Houses, without people,
and the land is a desolate waste.
¹² Until the Lord sends the people far away,
and great is the desolation in the midst of the land.
¹³ If there remain a tenth part in it,
then this in turn shall be laid waste;
As with a terebinth or an oak
whose trunk remains when its leaves have fallen.
Holy offspring is the trunk.
¹ In the year that King Uzzi′ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
⁶ Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” ⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
‘Hear and hear, but do not understand;
see and see, but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people fat,
and their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
¹¹ Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without men,
and the land is utterly desolate,
¹² and the Lord removes men far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
¹³ And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.
“Holy holy holy” is the call by the seraphim/angels beneath, and repeated in our Eucharistic prayer, and it comes from Isaiah and Revelation:
² At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat ³ one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald. ⁴ Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. ⁶ In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal.
⁷ The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. ⁸ The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
² At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! ³ And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. ⁴ Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. ⁵ From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; ⁶ and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
⁷ the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. ⁸ And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
Questions:
What does this trifold repetition of “Holy” mean for our understanding of that part of Mass?
Isaiah immediately answers his call with “Here I am”, and “How long, Lord”. How does this compare to others’ responses to the call of God? Who does it remind you of?
How do you interpret verses 9 and 10, where the people of Judah will have their hearts hardened, ears dulled, and eyes closed? How does this compare with our discussion last week regarding this passage?
⁸ and“A stone that will make men stumble,a rock that will make them fall”;for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
Parable of the sower#
This section of Isaiah is explicitly mentioned by Jesus:
¹ On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. ³ And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, ⁶ and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. ⁷ Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. ⁸ But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. ⁹ Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
¹⁰ The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. ¹² To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ ¹⁴ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
¹⁵ Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and be converted,
and I heal them.’
¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. ²⁰ The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. ²¹ But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. ²² The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. ²³ But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”
¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but never understand,
and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should perceive with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.’
¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
How do we cultivate the good soil to carry and nurture the Lord’s message?
History lessons#
A map of the relevant places and cities during this time period.#
⁵ Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to attack it. Although they besieged Ahaz, they were unable to do battle. ⁶ (In those days Rezin, king of Aram, recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Judahites out of it. The Edomites then entered Elath, which they have occupied until the present.)
⁷ Meanwhile, Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, with the plea: “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the power of the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house and sent them as a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ The king of Assyria listened to him and moved against Damascus, captured it, deported its inhabitants to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
¹⁰ King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria. When he saw the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar and a detailed design of its construction. ¹¹ Uriah the priest built an altar according to the plans which King Ahaz sent him from Damascus, and had it completed by the time King Ahaz returned from Damascus. ¹² On his arrival from Damascus, the king inspected the altar; the king approached the altar, went up ¹³ and sacrificed his burnt offering and grain offering, pouring out his libation, and sprinkling the blood of his communion offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ The bronze altar that stood before the Lord he brought from the front of the temple—that is, from the space between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and set it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Upon the large altar sacrifice the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the burnt offering and grain offering of the people of the land. Their libations you must sprinkle on it along with all the blood of burnt offerings and sacrifices. But the old bronze altar shall be mine for consultation.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded. ¹⁷ King Ahaz detached the panels from the stands and removed the basins from them; he also took down the bronze sea from the bronze oxen that supported it, and set it on a stone pavement.
⁵ Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom, and drove the men of Judah from Elath; and the E′domites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. ⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.
¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uri′ah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. ¹¹ And Uri′ah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uri′ah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar, and went up on it, ¹³ and burned his burnt offering and his cereal offering, and poured his drink offering, and threw the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. ¹⁴ And the bronze altar which was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Uri′ah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening cereal offering, and the king’s burnt offering, and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their cereal offering, and their drink offering; and throw upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Uri′ah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
¹⁷ And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands, and removed the laver from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pediment of stone.
Ahaz’s desecration of the temple and original altar further cement his vassalhood to Assyria. What does the sacrifice of the morning, the king, and the peoples’ offerings imply?
¹ In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. ² When word came to the house of David that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, ⁴ and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not fear; do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands, the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah— ⁵ because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you. They say, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
⁷ Thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand, it shall not be!
⁸ The head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin;
⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
Within sixty-five years,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm,
you shall not be firm!
¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as Sheol, or high as the sky! ¹² But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!”
¹ In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzzi′ah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. ² When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with E′phraim,” his heart 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 forth to meet Ahaz, you and She′ar-jash′ub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, ⁴ and say to him, ‘Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remali′ah. ⁵ Because Syria, with E′phraim and the son of Remali′ah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Ta′be-el as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years E′phraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
⁹ And the head of E′phraim is Samar′ia,
and the head of Samar′ia is the son of Remali′ah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established.’”
¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your 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.”
Questions:
Why does King Ahaz not want a sign from the Lord? How would he have to change course if he admitted such a sign?
How does Ahaz’s trust in human plans over God’s plan align with the woe oracles from last week?
Note
Shear-jashub: “a remnant will return”.
Emmanuel: “with us is God”
Maher-shalal-hash-baz: “quick spoils, speedy plunder”
The Emmanuel prophecy#
¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel. ¹⁵ Curds and honey he will eat so that he may learn to reject evil and choose good; ¹⁶ for before the child learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted.
¹⁷ The Lord shall bring upon you and your people and your father’s house such days as have not come since Ephraim seceded from Judah (the king of Assyria). ¹⁸ On that day
The Lord shall whistle
for the fly in the farthest streams of Egypt,
and for the bee in the land of Assyria.
¹⁹ All of them shall come and settle
in the steep ravines and in the rocky clefts,
on all thornbushes and in all pastures.
²⁰ On that day the Lord shall shave with the razor hired from across the River (the king of Assyria) the head, and the hair of the feet; it shall also shave off the beard.
²¹ On that day a man shall keep alive a young cow or a couple of sheep, ²² and from their abundant yield of milk he shall eat curds; curds and honey shall be the food of all who are left in the land. ²³ On that day every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver shall become briers and thorns. ²⁴ One shall have to go there with bow and arrows, for all the country shall be briers and thorns. ²⁵ But as for all the hills which were hoed with a mattock, for fear of briers and thorns you will not go there; they shall become a place for cattle to roam and sheep to trample.
⁵ For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
⁶ His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!
¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el. ¹⁵ He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶ For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. ¹⁷ 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 E′phraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
¹⁸ In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly which is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
²⁰ In that day the Lord will shave with a razor which is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
²¹ In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; ²² and because of the abundance of milk which they give, he will eat curds; for every one that is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. ²⁴ With bow and arrows men will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; ²⁵ and as for all the hills which used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
⁶ His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!
⁷ The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it falls upon Israel;
Fulfillment of Emmanuel#
The Emmanuel prophecy, while messianic, also seems at least partially fulfilled over the time period spanned by Isaiah.
King Hezekiah could be seen to represent part of this, as he is the most immediate foil to King Ahaz.
Maher-shalal-hash-baz infanthood is set after the pillage of Damascus and Samaria:
³ Then I went to the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son. The Lord said to me: Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, ⁴ for before the child learns to say, “My father, my mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be carried off by the king of Assyria.
¹⁶ for before the child learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted.
³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Ma′her-shal′al-hash′baz; ⁴ for before the child knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samar′ia will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
¹⁶ For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
Questions:
How do the multiple possible fulfillments reveal and strengthen God’s message?
²³ There is no gloom where there had been distress. Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations.
¹ The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
Upon those who lived in a land of gloom
a light has shone.
² You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing;
They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest,
as they exult when dividing the spoils.
³ For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
The rod of their taskmaster,
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
¹² When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
¹⁶ the people who sit in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.”
¹⁷ From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
¹⁸ As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. ¹⁹ He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.
²³ He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. ²⁴ His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
Note
The RSV, NIV, and others move the final verse of Chapter 8 to the beginning of Chapter 9. The 8:23 numbering often comes from translations from Hebrew source texts.
¹ But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
² The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
³ Thou hast multiplied the nation,
thou hast increased its joy;
they rejoice before thee
as with joy at the harvest,
as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
thou hast broken as on the day of Mid′ian.
¹² Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper′na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb′ulun and Naph′tali, ¹⁴ that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
¹⁵ “The land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali,
toward the sea, across the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”
¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb′edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb′edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
²³ And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decap′olis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
Questions: - Besides the prophecy, what is the benefit of Jesus’s ministry focusing on the northern-most Galilee, instead of in Judea?
Gifts of the Holy Spirit#
¹ But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
² The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
³ and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
The Hebrew uses the same phrase, יִרְאָה, in both the second and third verse, which gives us our repetition of “fear of the Lord”. However, in the Greek and Latin, it’s translated as piety, as referenced in the Catechism:
The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.
What is the difference between piety and fear of the Lord?
How do you experience these two aspects?