Isaiah 8

1 Then Yahweh said to me, “Make a large signboard. And write clearly on it, ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ [which means ‘quickly (plunder/take by force) and steal everything’].”

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 [So] I requested Uriah the [Supreme] Priest and Jeberekiah’s son Zechariah, men who were both honest/trustworthy witnesses, to watch me as I was doing that.

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

3 Then I had sex with [EUP] [my wife, who was] a prophetess, and she became pregnant and [then] gave birth to a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Give him the name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (which means ‘suddenly attacked, quickly conquered’),

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 because before he is old enough to say ‘papa’ or ‘mama’, the King of Assyria will [come with his army and] quickly take away all the valuable things in Damascus and in Samaria.”

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 Yahweh spoke to me again and said, “[Tell the people of Judah, ]

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

6 ‘[I have taken good care of] you people, but you have rejected that, [thinking that] my help was very little, like [MET] the little canal through which water flows from the Gihon Spring into Jerusalem. Instead, you have been happy [to request help from] King Rezin and King Pekah.

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 Therefore, I will cause the people of Judah to be attacked by [the powerful army of] the King of Assyria, which will be [like] a great flood from the [Euphrates] River. Their soldiers will [be everywhere in your country, like] a river that overflows 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 Those soldiers will go all over Judah— [like a river whose water] [MET] rises as high as a person’s neck. Their army will spread over the land [quickly], like an eagle, and they will cover your entire land! But I will be with you!’”

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 Listen, all you [people in] distant countries! [You can] prepare to attack Judah. [You can] prepare [for battle, and shout your] war-cries, but your [armies will] be crushed/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 [You can] prepare for what you will do [to attack Judah], but what you plan to do will not happen! You will not succeed, because 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 Yahweh strongly warned me [MTY] not to act like the [other] people in Judah did. He said to me,

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

12 “Do not say that everything that people do is conspiring/rebelling [against the government], like [other] people say, and do not (be afraid of/worry about) the things that other people are afraid of.

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

13 [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, am the one you should consider to be holy. And I am the one you should fear, the one you should revere.

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

14 I will protect you(sg). [But as for] the [other] people [MTY] in Israel and Judah, I will be [like] [MET] a stone that causes people to stumble, a rock that causes them to fall down. [And as for] the people of Jerusalem, I will be [like] [MET] a trap or a snare [DOU].

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 [people] will stumble and fall down and never get up again. They will experience great troubles; they will be captured [by their enemies].”

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

16 [So, I say to you who are my disciples], seal up this scroll on which I have written the messages that God has given to me, and give his instructions to [others] who have accompanied me.

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

17 I will wait to see what Yahweh [will do]. He has rejected the descendants [MTY] of Jacob, but I will confidently expect him to help me.

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 I and the children that Yahweh has given to me are [like] signs to warn [the people of] Israel; we are warnings from the Commander of the armies of angels the one who lives [in his temple] on Zion Hill [in Jerusalem].

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 Some people may urge you(pl) to (consult/go and talk with) those who talk with the spirits of dead people or with those who say that they receive messages from those spirits. They whisper and mutter [about what we should do in the future]. But God is [RHQ] the one whom we should ask to guide us! It is ridiculous [RHQ] for people who are alive to request spirits of dead people to tell us [what we should do]!

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 Pay attention to God’s instructions and teaching! If people do not say things that agree with what God teaches us, [what they say is worthless]. [It is as though] those people are in darkness.

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 wander through the land, worried/discouraged and hungry. And when they become [very] hungry, they will become very angry. They will look up [toward heaven] and curse God and [will also] curse their king.

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 They will look around the land and see only trouble/distress and darkness and things that cause them to despair. And [then] they will be thrown into the very black darkness [of hell]. (questioned)

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.