But Ahaz responded, “I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the Lord to a test.”

“Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.”

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.

I look, but there is no one, among them there is no one who serves as an adviser, that I might ask questions and receive answers.

This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: “How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands!

“I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke my name.

They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God.