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
Chapter 8
God will use Assyria to destroy Israel and Syria
1The Lord said to me, ‘Get a large board to write on. Then write clear words on it. Write this name: “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” #8:1 ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ means ‘Quickly take all the valuable things’. 2I will call Uriah the priest and Jeberekiah's son, Zechariah, to come to see this. They are honest people who will say what is true.’
3Then I slept with my wife, the prophetess. She became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, ‘Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4Before the child knows how to say “my father” or “my mother”, the king of Assyria will attack Damascus and Samaria. His army will carry away the valuable things from those cities. That is why your son's name must be Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’
5The Lord spoke to me again. 6He said, ‘I have blessed my people, like the quiet stream of Shiloah. But they have not accepted my help. Instead, they are happy that King Rezin and Remaliah's son will help them.
7So I will cause this to happen. I, the Lord God, will bring floods of water from the Euphrates river. That will be the king of Assyria and his powerful armies. They will come like a great river that rises high over its sides. 8Its water will come as a flood into Judah. It will cover the land and it will rise as high as people's necks! He will make his wings very wide to cover all your land, Immanuel.’ #8:8 ‘He’ may be the king of Assyria, who will cover all the land with his soldiers. Or he may be the Lord, who will cover his people to keep them safe when the enemy attacks.
9You foreign nations must listen to this! Join together to fight. Shout as you go to battle. But you will never win! You people from countries that are far away, get ready for war. But you will be completely destroyed! 10Decide how you will fight the battle, but your plans will fail! What you decide to do will never happen. God is with us!
The Lord's message to Isaiah
11Now the Lord spoke to me with great power. He warned me that I must not be like the other people in Judah. He said,
12‘Those people are talking about an agreement to turn against the rulers. But do not agree with what they say. Do not be afraid of the things that frighten them. Do not be afraid, as they are. 13Instead, you should understand that the Lord Almighty has all authority. You should respect him as holy and be afraid of him.
14He will be a safe place for you. But for both nations in Israel he will become like a stone that causes people to fall to the ground. #8:14 The two nations were Judah in the south, and Israel (or Ephraim) in the north. The Israelite people had become two kingdoms. He will be like a rock that makes them fall down. He will take hold of the people who live in Jerusalem, like a trap that catches a bird. 15Many people will fall against that rock. They will fall to the ground and it will hurt them. They will become caught in a trap.’
Isaiah's message to his disciples
16Tie a string round the paper where I have written this. Keep it safe as a true message. Give it to my disciples, to teach them. 17I will wait for the Lord to do what he says. He has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. But I will trust him to do what is right.
18Look! Here I am, with the children that the Lord has given to me. We are messages from the Lord Almighty who lives on Mount Zion. We are messages to Israel's people.
19They will say to you, ‘Go to the people who speak to the spirits of dead people. Go to the magicians who speak magic words. They will tell you what you should do. People should ask their gods and spirits to give them messages. People who are alive should ask the spirits of dead people to help them.’
20When they say that to you, remember my teaching. Tell them what I have said will happen. People who talk like that are completely in the dark. There is no truth in what they say. 21Then the people will travel through the land, and they will be sad and hungry. Because of their hunger they will become angry. #8:21 ‘hunger’ is what you feel when you are hungry They will curse their king and their God, as they look up to the sky. 22They will look down at the earth, but they will only see trouble. Everywhere will be dark and people will have no hope. Then they will fall into complete darkness.
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