Isaiah 8
8
1Then the Lord told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in with an ordinary pen, ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’#8:1. Meaning “quick the looting, swift the plunder.” 2I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”
3Then I slept with my wife#8:3. “My wife”: supplied for clarity. the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For even before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the king of Assyria will carry off Damascus' wealth and Samaria's possessions.”
5Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying, 6“Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,#8:6. It is unclear from the Hebrew exactly why the people are rejoicing with Rezin and Remaliah's son. 7the 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. 8It 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!
9Pay attention,#8:9. “Pay attention.” There is much debate over the meaning of the Hebrew word here. Possibilities include: raise the war cry, huddle together, be broken, make an uproar, rage, know etc. you nations, and be smashed! Listen, all you distant lands, get ready, but you will be smashed. Get ready, but you will be smashed. 10You 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.”
11For 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, 12Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed! 13The 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. 14He 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. 15Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught. 16Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.
17I will wait for the Lord, the one who is hiding his face from Jacob's descendants. I will wait in hope for him.
18Look, 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.
19When 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? 20Go 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.#8:20. The word “God” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied here for clarity and emphasis. 21They will wander around the country, depressed and hungry. When they are starving they will become furious, and looking up they will curse their king and their God. 22Then they will look towards the earth and see only misery and gloom and agonizing depression, and they will be thrown out into the darkness.
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Isaiah 8: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 8
8
1Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write upon it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hashbaz.’ ”#8.1 That is The spoil speeds, the prey hastes 2And I got reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me. 3And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hashbaz; 4for before the child knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5The Lord spoke to me again: 6“Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before#8.6 Cn: Heb rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; 7therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks; 8and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanu-el.”
9Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed;
give ear, all you far countries;
gird yourselves and be dismayed;
gird yourselves and be dismayed.
10Take counsel together, but it will come to naught;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.#8.10 Heb immanu el
11For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12#1 Pet 3.14-15. “Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14#Rom 9.32-33; 1 Pet 2.8. And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. 17#Heb 2.13. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19And when they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn. 21They will pass through the land,#8.21 Heb it greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse#8.21 Or curse by their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; 22and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
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