Isaiah 7:8-9

7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,

and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation.

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.”


tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”

tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, taaminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, teamenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.