The Book of Mormon
~559–545 BC

2 Nephi 17

Syria and Israel threaten Jerusalem, but God sends Isaiah to King Ahaz promising these enemies will fail. A virgin will bear Immanuel as a sign. Before this child matures, the threatening lands will be abandoned. Yet Assyria will invade Judah like a flood.

Two Kings Attack Jerusalem

During the reign of Ahaz—son of Jotham, grandson of Uzziah—king of Judah, Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, marched toward Jerusalem to attack it. But they couldn’t break through. Word reached the house of David: 'Syria has joined forces with Ephraim.' When Ahaz heard this, his heart shook—and his people’s hearts with him—like trees trembling in the wind.

Isaiah Brings God’s Message

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 'Go meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub with you. You’ll find him at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the road to the launderer’s field.' 'Tell him this: Stay calm. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose heart over these two dying embers—Rezin and Syria, and Remaliah’s son—no matter how furious they are.'

'Syria, Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son have plotted against you. They’re saying,' '’Let’s invade Judah, tear it apart, conquer it, and put Tabeal’s son on the throne.''

'But the Lord God says: It won’t happen. Their plan won’t succeed.'

'The head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years, Ephraim will be shattered—no longer a people.' 'The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you don’t stand firm in faith, you won’t stand at all.'

The Sign of Immanuel

The Lord spoke to Ahaz again: 'Ask me for a sign—any sign you want. From the depths below or the heights above.' But Ahaz said, 'I won’t ask. I won’t test the Lord.'

Then Isaiah said, 'Listen, house of David. Isn’t it enough that you wear out people’s patience? Must you wear out God’s patience too?'

'So the Lord himself will give you a sign: A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and she will name him Immanuel.' 'He will eat curds and honey—the food of those who know how to refuse evil and choose good.' 'Before the child is old enough to know right from wrong, the land ruled by those two kings you dread will be abandoned.'

Coming Invasion and Devastation

'The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house days unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. He’ll bring the king of Assyria.'

'When that day comes, the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.' 'They’ll come and settle in the steep ravines, in the crevices of rocks, on all the thornbushes, and at every watering hole.' 'On that day, the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the river—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to strip off your beard.'

'In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats.' 'Because they’ll give so much milk, he’ll have curds to eat. Everyone left in the land will eat curds and honey.'

'Where there were once a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, there will be only briars and thorns.' 'People will go there with bow and arrow, because the whole land will be covered with briars and thorns.' 'As for the hills once cultivated with the hoe, you won’t go there anymore for fear of briars and thorns. They’ll become places where cattle are turned loose and sheep trample.'

Influences

  • 17:1 — Isaiah 7:1 (KJV)
    And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
  • 17:2 — Isaiah 7:2 (KJV)
    And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
  • 17:3 — Isaiah 7:3 (KJV)
    Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;
  • 17:4 — Isaiah 7:4 (KJV)
    And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
  • 17:5 — Isaiah 7:5 (KJV)
    Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
  • 17:6 — Isaiah 7:6 (KJV)
    Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:
  • 17:7 — Isaiah 7:7 (KJV)
    Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
  • 17:8 — Isaiah 7:8 (KJV)
    For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
  • 17:9 — Isaiah 7:9 (KJV)
    And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
  • 17:10 — Isaiah 7:10 (KJV)
    Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
  • 17:11 — Isaiah 7:11 (KJV)
    Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
  • 17:12 — Isaiah 7:12 (KJV)
    But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
  • 17:13 — Isaiah 7:13 (KJV)
    And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
  • 17:14 — Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)
    Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
  • 17:15 — Isaiah 7:15 (KJV)
    Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
  • 17:16 — Isaiah 7:16 (KJV)
    For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
  • 17:17 — Isaiah 7:17 (KJV)
    The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
  • 17:18 — Isaiah 7:18 (KJV)
    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
  • 17:19 — Isaiah 7:19 (KJV)
    And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
  • 17:20 — Isaiah 7:20 (KJV)
    In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
  • 17:21 — Isaiah 7:21 (KJV)
    And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
  • 17:22 — Isaiah 7:22 (KJV)
    And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
  • 17:23 — Isaiah 7:23 (KJV)
    And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
  • 17:24 — Isaiah 7:24 (KJV)
    With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
  • 17:25 — Isaiah 7:25 (KJV)
    And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
2 Nephi 162 Nephi 18