Isaiah 8

1 And Yahweh said unto me: Take thee a large tablet, —and write thereon in plain characters, To Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ["Speed-spoil-hurry-prey".]

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

2 That I may take in attestation, faithful witnesses, —even Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

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

3 Then approached I unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son, —and Yahweh said unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

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.’

4 For before the boy shall have knowledge to cry, My father! and, My mother! the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

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.”

5 And again Yahweh spake unto me yet further saying:

The LORD spoke to me yet again, saying,

6 Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, —and are rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

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

7 now therefore, lo! the Lord is about to bring up against them the waters, strong and many, of the River ["Euphrates"], even the king of Assyria and all his glory, —and he shall rise over all his channels, and flow over all his banks;

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.

8 and roll on throughout Judah—overflow and pass along, till unto the neck, he shall reach, —and it shall be, that, the stretching out of his wings, shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!

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.

9 Rage, O ye peoples, —and be overthrown, And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth, —Gird yourselves and be overthrown, Gird yourselves, and be overthrown:

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!

10 Determine a plan, —and it shall be frustrated, —Speak a word, and it shall not stand, For With-us-is-GOD!

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

11 For, thus, spake Yahweh unto me like a firm grasp of the hand, —when he admonished me, not to walk in the way of this people, saying:

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

12 Ye shall not say—A confederacy! of everything of which this people may say. A confederacy! And their fear, shall ye not fear or regard as awful:

“Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their threats or be terrorised.

13 Yahweh of hosts, him, shall ye hallow, —And let, him, be your fear, and let, him inspire you with awe;

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

14 So shall he become a hallowed asylum, —But a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over unto both houses of Israel A trap and a snare to the dweller in Jerusalem;

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.

15 And many, shall stumble among them, —and fall and be torn, and snared, and captured.

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

16 Bind thou up the testimony, —Seal the instruction amongst my disciples.

Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law amongst my disciples.

17 I will therefore long for Yahweh, Who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, —And will wait, for him.

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

18 Lo! I and the children whom Yahweh hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel, —from Yahweh of hosts, who is making his habitation in Mount Zion.

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

19 But, when they say unto you—Seek ye unto the necromancers and unto the wizards, who chirp, and who mutter, Should not a people seek, unto its God? In behalf of the living, [should it seek] unto the dead?

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

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, [It is], because they have no dawning day.

Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

21 Therefore shall they pass through it hard pressed and hungry, —And it shall be when they hunger, then will they rage and revile their king and their god and turn their faces upwards;

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,

22 And unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!

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