Isaiah 8
8
Assyria Will Come Soon
1The Lord told me, “Take a large scroll on which to write. Use a pen to write these words: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’# This name means “there will soon be looting and stealing.” 2I will gather some men to be reliable witnesses. They will be Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
3Then I went to the prophetess. She became pregnant and had a son. Then the Lord told me, “Name the boy Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4The king of Assyria will take away all the wealth and possessions of Damascus and Samaria. This will happen before the boy learns to say ‘my father’ or ‘my mother.’”
5Again the Lord spoke to me. 6He said,
“These people refuse to accept
the slow-moving waters of the pool of Shiloah.
These people are terrified of Rezin
and Remaliah’s son Pekah.
7So I, the Lord, will bring
the king of Assyria and all his power against them.
They will come like a powerful flood of water from the Euphrates River.
The Assyrians will be like water rising over the banks of the river,
flowing over the land.
8That water will flow into Judah and pass through it.
It will rise to Judah’s throat.
Immanuel, this army will spread its wings like a bird
until it covers your whole country.”
9Be broken, all you nations.
Be smashed to pieces.
Listen, all you faraway countries.
Prepare for battle and be smashed to pieces!
Prepare for battle and be smashed to pieces!
10Make your plans for the fight.
But your plans will be defeated.
Give orders to your armies.
But your orders will be useless.
This is because God is with us.
Warnings to Isaiah
11The Lord spoke to me with his great power. He warned me not to follow the lead of the rest of the people. The Lord said,
12“People are saying that others make plans against them.
You should not believe those things.
Don’t be afraid of the things they fear.
Do not dread those things.
13But remember that the Lord of heaven’s armies is holy.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one you should dread.
14Then he would be a place of safety for you.
But for the two families of Israel,
he will be like a stone that causes people to stumble.
He will be like a rock that makes them fall.
He will be like a trap for the people of Jerusalem.
He will catch them in his trap.
15Many people will fall over this rock.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and caught.”
16Make an agreement.
Seal up the teaching while my followers are watching.
17I will wait for the Lord to help us.
The Lord is ashamed of the family of Israel.
I will trust the Lord.
18I am here. And with me are the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and proofs for the people of Israel. We have been sent by the Lord of heaven’s armies. He lives on Mount Zion.
19Some people say, “Ask the mediums and fortune-tellers what to do. They whisper and mutter and ask dead people what to do.” But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead? 20You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord. The mediums and fortune-tellers do not speak the word of the Lord. Their words are worth nothing.
21People will wander through the land troubled and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry. Then they will look up and curse their king and their God. 22They will look around them at their land. And they will see only trouble and darkness and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.
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Isaiah 8: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 8
8
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.#8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means “Swift to plunder and quick to carry away.”” 2I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.
3Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”
5Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, 6“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to#8:6a Or They are rejoicing because of. King Rezin and King Pekah.#8:6b Hebrew and the son of Remaliah. 7Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River#8:7 Hebrew the river.—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels 8and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.
9“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified.
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
10Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless.
Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed.
For God is with us!#8:10 Hebrew Immanuel!”
A Call to Trust the Lord
11The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,
12“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
13Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.
14He will keep you safe.
But to Israel and Judah
he will be a stone that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem
he will be a trap and a snare.
15Many will stumble and fall,
never to rise again.
They will be snared and captured.”
16Preserve the teaching of God;
entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
17I will wait for the Lord,
who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my hope in him.
18I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.
19Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?
20Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
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