5. Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying,
6. “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”
7. Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘It will not take place, it will not happen,
8. for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ ”
10. Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz,
11. “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12. But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”