7. " 'But I am the Lord and King. I say, " ' "That will not happen. It will not take place.
8. The capital of Aram is Damascus. And the ruler of Damascus is only Rezin. Do not worry about the people of Ephraim. They will be too crushed to be considered a people. That will happen before 65 years are over.
9. The capital of Ephraim is Samaria. And the ruler of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." ' "
10. The Lord spoke to Ahaz through me again. He said,
11. "I am the Lord your God. Ask me to give you a miraculous sign. It can be anything in the deepest grave or in the highest heaven."
12. But Ahaz said, "I won't ask. I won't put the Lord to the test."
13. Then I said, "Listen, you members of the royal family of Ahaz! Isn't it enough for you to test the patience of men? Are you also going to test the patience of my God?
14. The Lord himself will give you a miraculous sign. The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel.
15. "The time will come when he is old enough to decide between what is wrong and what is right. By that time he will have only butter and honey to eat.
16. But even before that happens, the lands of the two kings you are afraid of will be completely destroyed.
17. "The Lord will also bring the king of Assyria against you. And he will bring him against your people and the whole royal family. That will be a time of trouble unlike any since the people of Ephraim broke away from Judah."
18. At that time the Lord will whistle for the Egyptians. They will come like flies from the streams of Egypt. He will also whistle for the Assyrians. They will come from their country like bees.
19. All of them will come and camp in the deep valleys. They will camp in caves in the rocks. And they'll camp near bushes and water holes.
20. At that time the Lord will use the Assyrians to punish you. Ahaz had hired them earlier from east of the Euphrates River. Now their king will be like a razor in the Lord's hand. He will shave the hair from your head and legs. He will also shave off your beards.
21. At that time a man will only be able to keep one young cow and two goats alive.