Isaiah 8

1 And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and write thereon with a man's style, concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

Then the Lord told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in with an ordinary pen, ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’

2 And I took unto me to witness, sure witnesses, Urijah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”

3 And I came near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son; and Jehovah said unto me, Call his name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

Then I slept with my wife the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 For before the lad knoweth to cry, My father! and, My mother! the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

For even before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the king of Assyria will carry off Damascus' wealth and Samaria's possessions.”

5 And Jehovah spoke again to me, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying,

6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, and rejoiceth in Rezin and in the son of Remaliah,

“Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,

7 therefore behold, the Lord will bring up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall mount up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

the Lord is going to bring the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River against them—the king of Assyria with all his glorious army. It will flood all its channels and overflow all its banks.

8 and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow it and go further, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!

It will sweep on into Judah, overflowing and flooding through, reaching up to the neck. Like outspread wings it will engulf the whole of your land, Immanuel!

9 Rage, ye peoples, and be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth: Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces!

Pay attention, you nations, and be smashed! Listen, all you distant lands, get ready, but you will be smashed. Get ready, but you will be smashed.

10 Settle a plan, and it shall come to nought; speak a word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

You can plan your strategy, but it will be foiled; you can say what you're intending, but it won't happen, for God is with us.”

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

For this is what the Lord told me, holding me with a strong hand, instructing me not to follow the way of this people. He said,

12 Ye shall not say, Conspiracy, of everything of which this people saith, Conspiracy; and fear ye not their fear, and be not in dread.

Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed!

13 Jehovah of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

The Lord Almighty is the one you should see as holy. He is the one you should fear, he is the one you should be in awe of.

14 And he will be for a sanctuary; and for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

He will be a sanctuary for you. But to the royal families of both Israel and Judah he will be a stone they trip over and a rock that makes them stumble, a trap and a snare to the people who live in Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.

17 And I will wait for Jehovah, who hideth his face from the house of Jacob; and I will look for him.

I will wait for the Lord, the one who is hiding his face from Jacob's descendants. I will wait in hope for him.

18 Behold, I and the children that Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel, from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.

Look, I'm here, together with the children the Lord has given me. They are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who lives on Mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto the necromancers and unto the soothsayers, who chirp and who mutter, [say, ] Shall not a people seek unto their God? [Will they go] for the living unto the dead?

When someone suggests to you, “Go and ask mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter,” shouldn't people ask their God? Why should they ask the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak.

Go and examine God's law and his instructions! If what they say doesn't correspond with God's word, there will be no dawn for them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hard pressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass when they are hungry, they will fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and will gaze upward:

They will wander round the country, depressed and hungry. When they are starving they will become furious, and looking up they will curse their king and their God.

22 and they will look to the earth; and behold, trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they shall be driven into thick darkness.

Then they will look towards the earth and see only misery and gloom and agonizing depression, and they will be thrown out into the darkness.