But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”
- BSB But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”
- NKJV But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
- NASB But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!”
- NLT But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, claiming he will not put the Lord to the test. It is a false piety that masks his unbelief and reliance on Assyria instead.
Overview
Ahaz cloaks his rejection of God's offer in a seemingly reverent refusal to 'tempt' the Lord, but he has already resolved to trust Assyria rather than God. His refusal of grace prompts God to give the Immanuel sign anyway (7:14), a promise that points beyond Ahaz to the virgin-born Christ. The verse warns that disguising unbelief as devotion does not escape God's notice, yet His saving purpose advances regardless.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Chr 28:22And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
- Deut 6:16Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
- 1 Cor 10:9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
- 2 Kgs 16:15And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
- Mal 3:15And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
- Acts 5:9Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
- Ezek 33:31And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 7:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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