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
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.