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Isaiah 7:16
ESV For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
NIV for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
NASB For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.
CSB For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.
NLT For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
KJV For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

What does Isaiah 7:16 mean?

This conversation with King Ahaz happened around 735 BC. At this moment, the armies of Syria and Israel were making their way to attack Jerusalem and remove Ahaz from the throne (Isaiah 7:6). The Lord told Ahaz not to worry about this, because it would not be an issue for long (Isaiah 7:7).

By the year 733 or 732 BC, the Assyrians had defeated Syria and killed its king, aside from its capital of Samaria. They had also conquered much of Israel. Samaria and the rest of the northern kingdom of Israel would fall as well, by around 721 BC.

This all fits exactly with the miraculous sign Isaiah described to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:14). He has said that young maiden or virgin will soon conceive a son and will call him Immanuel, which means "God with us." Now he says that before that boy knows how to tell evil and from good, the land of those two kings Ahaz dreads will be emptied. When the boy is two or three, both Israel and Syria will cease to be a threat. By the time the boy is 13, both will be completely wiped out. Their people will be deported by the Assyrians and the land sitting empty.

This may sound like the best news Ahaz could have hoped to hear. But Isaiah will reveal in the following verse that the enemy who wipes out Judah's current threat will bring far greater devastation than their current enemies could have brought (Isaiah 7:17).
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