Isaiah 8

1 The LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;

And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a volume of a great new [book], and write in it with a man's pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.

2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

And make me witnesses [of] faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.

3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’

And I went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.

4 For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

For before the child shall know [how] to call [his] father or [his] mother, [one] shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.

5 The LORD spoke to me yet again, saying,

And the Lord spoke to me yet again, [saying],

6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

Because this people chooses not the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wills to have Rassin, and the son of Romelias [to be] king over you;

7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.

therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, [even] the king of the Assyrians, and his glory: and he shall come up over every valley of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours:

8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, O Immanuel.

and he shall take away from Juda [every] man who shall be able to lift up his head, [and every one] able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall fill the breadth of thy land, [O] God with us.

9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!

Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered.

10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”

And whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us.

11 For the LORD spoke this to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

Thus saith the Lord, With a strong hand they revolt from the course of the way of this people, saying,

12 “Do not call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Do not fear their threats or be terrorized.

Let them not say, [It is] hard, for whatsoever this people says, is hard: but fear not ye their fear, neither be dismayed.

13 The LORD of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear.

14 He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.

And if thou shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come against [him] as against a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit.

15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”

Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely.

16 Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.

Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

And [one] shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.

Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be [for] signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion.

19 When they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,” should not a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning the living?

20 Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they do not speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.

21 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward,

And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, [that] when ye shall be hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above,

22 then look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.

and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that [one cannot] see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.