Prophet · OT
Isaiah
The eighth-century prophet whose visions of judgment, comfort, and a suffering Messiah shaped Israel's hope and the New Testament's gospel.
Isaiah, son of Amoz, prophesied in Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (roughly 740–681 BC), through Assyria's rise and Judah's near-collapse. His call came in a temple vision of the LORD enthroned, surrounded by seraphim, where he heard his own lips touched with cleansing fire (Isaiah 6).
His sixty-six chapters move from indictment of Judah's hypocrisy and idolatry, to oracles against the nations, to some of the most exalted promises in scripture — Immanuel (7:14), the Prince of Peace (9:6), the wolf with the lamb (11:6), and the four Servant Songs that culminate in the suffering, sin-bearing Servant of Isaiah 53.
No Old Testament book is quoted more often by Jesus and the apostles. Tradition records that Isaiah was martyred by being sawn in two under King Manasseh, an echo perhaps preserved in Hebrews 11:37.
Key moments
Temple call vision
Sees the Lord, lofty and lifted up; lips cleansed by coal (Isaiah 6).
Prophecy of Immanuel
Foretells the virgin-born child whose name is 'God with us' (Isaiah 7:14).
Counsel during Sennacherib's siege
Strengthens Hezekiah as Jerusalem is delivered (Isaiah 36–37).
The Suffering Servant
Describes the despised, pierced one who bears the iniquity of many (Isaiah 53).
Key verses
"And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me."
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"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
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"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
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"but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."
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"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
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"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
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Frequently asked
When did Isaiah prophesy?
Isaiah ministered in Jerusalem from around 740 BC, the year King Uzziah died, into the reign of Hezekiah and possibly Manasseh — roughly sixty years through the Assyrian crisis.
Did Isaiah really predict Jesus?
The New Testament quotes Isaiah more than any other Old Testament prophet. Passages such as Isaiah 7:14 (the virgin birth), 9:6 (the divine Son), 11 (the shoot from Jesse), and 53 (the suffering Servant) are applied directly to Jesus by the evangelists and apostles.
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