Isaiah 8
8
Isaiah and His Children Are Signs
1The Lord said to me, “Get a large sheet of paper. Write ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ on it with a pen.” 2So I sent for Zechariah and Uriah the priest. Zechariah is the son of Jeberekiah. Zechariah and Uriah were witnesses for me whom I could trust. 3Then I went and slept with my wife, who was a prophet. She became pregnant and had a baby boy. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4The king of Assyria will carry off the wealth of Damascus. He will also carry away the goods that were taken from Samaria. That will happen before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother.’ ”
5The Lord continued,
6“I am like the gently flowing stream of Siloam.
But the people of Judah have turned their backs on me.
They are filled with joy because of the fall of Rezin
and the son of Remaliah.
7So I am about to bring against these people
the king of Assyria and his whole army.
The Assyrians will be like the mighty Euphrates River
when it is flooding.
They will run over everything in their path.
8They will sweep on into Judah like a flood.
They will pass through Judah and reach all the way to Jerusalem.
Immanuel, they will attack your land like an eagle.
Their wings will spread out and cover it.”
9Sound the battle cry, you nations!
But you will be torn apart.
Listen, all you lands far away!
Prepare for battle! But you will be torn apart.
Prepare for battle! But you will be torn apart.
10Make your battle plans! But you won’t succeed.
Give your orders! But they won’t be carried out.
That’s because God is with us.
11The Lord speaks to me while his powerful hand is on me. He is warning me not to live the way these people live. He says,
12“People of Judah, do not agree with those who say
Isaiah is guilty of treason.
Do not fear what they fear.
Do not be afraid.
13The Lord rules over all.
So you must think about him as holy.
You must have respect for him.
You must fear him.
14Then the Lord will be a holy place of safety for you.
But that’s not true for many people in Israel and Judah.
He will be a stone that causes them to trip.
He will be a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem
he will be a trap and a snare.
15Many of them will trip.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and captured.”
16Tie up and seal this warning that the Lord said to you through me.
Preserve among my followers what he taught you through me.
17I will wait for the Lord.
He is turning his face away from Jacob’s people.
I will put my trust in him.
18Here I am. Here are the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and reminders to Israel from the Lord who rules over all. He lives on Mount Zion.
The Darkness Turns to Light
19There are people who get messages from those who have died. But these people only whisper words that are barely heard. Suppose someone tells you to ask for advice from these people. Shouldn’t you ask for advice from your God instead? Why should you get advice from dead people to help those who are alive? 20Follow what the Lord taught you and said to you through me. People who don’t speak in keeping with these words will have no hope in the morning. 21They will suffer and be hungry. They’ll wander through the land. When they are very hungry, they will become angry. They’ll look up toward heaven. They’ll ask for bad things to happen to their king and their God. 22Then they will look at the earth. They’ll see nothing but suffering and darkness. They’ll see terrible sadness. They’ll be driven into total darkness.
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Isaiah 8: NIrV
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Isaiah 8
8
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment#8:1 Hb obscure and write on it with an ordinary pen:#8:1 Lit with the pen of a man#Is 30:8; Hab 2:2 Maher-shalal-hash-baz.#8:1 = Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil 2I have appointed#8:2 Vg; MT, one DSS ms read I will appoint; one DSS ms, LXX, Syr, Tg read Appoint trustworthy witnesses — the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”#2Kg 16:10–11,15–16
3I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4for before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’#Is 7:16 the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”#Is 7:8–9
5The Lord spoke to me again:
6Because these people rejected
the slowly flowing water of Shiloah
and rejoiced with#8:6 Or and rejoiced over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,#Is 7:1
7the Lord will certainly bring against them
the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River —
the king of Assyria and all his glory.
It will overflow its channels
and spill over all its banks.
8It will pour into Judah,
flood over it, and sweep through,
reaching up to the neck;#Is 30:28
and its flooded banks#8:8 Lit its outspread wings
will fill your entire land, Immanuel!#Is 7:14; 8:10
9Band together,#8:9 Or Raise the war cry, or Be shattered peoples, and be broken;
pay attention, all you distant lands;
prepare for war, and be broken;
prepare for war, and be broken.
10Devise a plan; it will fail.#Is 14:27
Make a prediction; it will not happen.
For God is with us.#8:10 Hb Immanuel#Is 8:8
The Lord of Armies, the Only Refuge
11For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep#8:11 DSS; MT reads instruct me from going the way of this people:#Ezk 2:8
12Do not call everything a conspiracy
that these people say is a conspiracy.#Is 7:2; 30:1
Do not fear what they fear;#1Pt 3:14
do not be terrified.
13You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy.#Nm 20:12
Only he should be feared;#1Pt 3:15
only he should be held in awe.
14He will be a sanctuary;#Is 4:6; 25:4; Ezk 11:16
but for the two houses of Israel,
he will be a stone#Ps 91:12; Is 26:4 to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,#Lk 2:34; Rm 9:33; 1Pt 2:8
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15Many will stumble over these;#Is 28:13; 59:10; Lk 20:18; Rm 9:32
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.
16Bind up the testimony.#Is 8:1–2; 29:11–12
Seal up the instruction#Dn 12:4 among my disciples.
17I will wait for the Lord,#Ps 27:14; 33:20; 37:34; 130:5–6; Is 25:9; 30:18; Lm 3:26; Hab 2:3; 1Co 1:7; Php 3:20
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.#Dt 31:17; Is 1:15; 45:15; 54:8
I will wait for him.
18Here I am with the children the Lord has given me#Heb 2:13 to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion. 19When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,”#Lv 20:6; 2Kg 21:6; 23:24; Is 19:3; 29:4; 47:12–13 shouldn’t a people inquire of their God?#8:19 Or gods Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?#1Sm 28:8–11 20Go to God’s instruction and testimony!#Is 1:10; Lk 16:29 If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
21They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22They will look toward the earth#Is 5:30; 59:9; Jr 13:16; Am 5:18,20; Zph 1:14–15 and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
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