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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Isaiah 8: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Isaiah 8
8
A Warning and a Hope
1The Lord said, “Isaiah, get something to write on. Then write in big clear letters#8.1 in big clear letters: Or “in letters everyone can understand.” the name, MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ.#8.1 MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ: In Hebrew “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” means “suddenly attacked, quickly taken.” 2I will tell Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah to serve as witnesses to this.”
3Sometime later, my wife and I had a son, and the Lord said, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4Because before he can say ‘Mommy’ or ‘Daddy,’ the king of Assyria will attack and take everything of value from Damascus and Samaria.”
5The Lord spoke to me again and said:
6These people have refused the gentle waters of Shiloah#8.6 Shiloah: The canal that brought water from Gihon Spring to Jerusalem. and have gladly gone over to the side of King Rezin and King Pekah. 7Now I will send the king of Assyria against them with his powerful army, which will attack like the mighty Euphrates River overflowing its banks. 8Enemy soldiers will cover Judah like a flood reaching up to your neck.
But God is with us.#8.8 God is with us: Here and in verse 10 this translates the Hebrew word “Immanuel” (see 7.14).
He will spread his wings
and protect our land.#8.8 But … land: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
9All of you foreign nations,
go ahead and prepare for war,
but you will be crushed.
10Get together and make plans,
but you will fail
because God is with us.
11The Lord took hold of me with his powerful hand and said:
I'm warning you! Don't act like these people. 12#1 P 3.14,15. Don't call something a rebellious plot, just because they do, and don't be afraid of something, just because they are. 13I am the one you should fear and respect. I am the holy God, the Lord All-Powerful! 14-15#1 P 2.8. Run to me for protection. I am a rock that will make both Judah and Israel stumble and break their bones. I am a trap that will catch the people of Jerusalem—they will be captured and dragged away.
Isaiah and His Followers
16My message and my teachings are to be sealed and given to my followers. 17#He 2.13. Meanwhile, I patiently trust the Lord, even though he is no longer pleased with Israel. 18#He 2.13. My children and I are warning signs to Israel from the Lord All-Powerful, who lives on Mount Zion.
19Someone may say to you, “Go to the fortunetellers who make soft chirping sounds or ask the spirits of the dead. After all, a nation ought to be able to ask its own gods 20what it should do.”
None of those who talk like that will live to see the light of day! 21They will go around in great pain and will become so hungry that they will angrily curse their king and their gods. And when they try to find help in heaven 22and on earth, they will find only trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.