If the LORD Almighty had not let some of the people survive, Jerusalem would have been totally destroyed, just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

The time is coming when the LORD will make every plant and tree in the land grow large and beautiful. All the people of Israel who survive will take delight and pride in the crops that the land produces.

Everyone who is left in Jerusalem, whom God has chosen for survival, will be called holy.

Even if one person out of ten remains in the land, he too will be destroyed; he will be like the stump of an oak tree that has been cut down." (The stump represents a new beginning for God's people.)

The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the LORD your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive."

Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit.

There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the LORD Almighty is determined to make this happen.

Then how can we ignore your commandments again and intermarry with these wicked people? If we do, you will be so angry that you will destroy us completely and let no one survive.

And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: "Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved;

It is as Isaiah had said before, "If the Lord Almighty had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."

Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: "I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me."

The Assyrian emperor, instead of helping Ahaz, opposed him and caused him trouble.

"When Israel saw how sick she was and when Judah saw her own wounds, then Israel went to Assyria to ask the great emperor for help, but he could not cure them or heal their wounds.

Assyria can never save us, and war horses cannot protect us. We will never again say to our idols that they are our God. O LORD, you show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to."

When that day comes, people will turn for help to their Creator, the holy God of Israel.

They will no longer rely on the altars they made with their own hands, or trust in their own handiwork---symbols of the goddess Asherah and altars for burning incense.

You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

Trust in the LORD forever; he will always protect us.

Listen to this, people of Israel, you that are descended from Judah: You swear by the name of the LORD and claim to worship the God of Israel--- but you don't mean a word you say.

And yet you are proud to say that you are citizens of the holy city and that you depend on Israel's God, whose name is the LORD Almighty.

All of you that honor the LORD and obey the words of his servant, the path you walk may be dark indeed, but trust in the LORD, rely on your God.