But Ahaz responded, “I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the Lord to a test.” ¹ 

“Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ¹ 

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

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, ¹  the one who formed him, concerning things to come: ²  “How dare you question me ³  about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with ⁴  the work of my own hands!

“I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ¹  I appeared to those who did not look for me. ²  I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke ³  my name.

They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, ¹  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.