Isaiah 8
8
Assyria Is Coming Soon
1The Lord told me, “Get a large scroll,#8:1 scroll This Hebrew word might also mean a clay or stone tablet. and use an ordinary pen#8:1 ordinary pen Literally, “stylus of a man.” This might be a pen for writing on clay. to write these words: ‘This is for Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’#8:1 Maher Shalal Hash Baz This means “There will soon be looting and stealing.””
2I found some men who could be trusted to serve as witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah. They watched me write those words. 3Then I went to my wife, the woman prophet. She became pregnant and had a son. The Lord told me, “Name the boy Maher Shalal Hash Baz.” 4He said that because before the boy learns to say “Mama” and “Daddy,” God will take all the wealth and riches from Damascus#8:4 Damascus A city in the country of Aram (Syria). and Samaria and give them to the king of Assyria.
5The Lord spoke to me again. 6He said, “These people#8:6 These people Probably Judeans who wanted to join Rezin and Pekah. Also in verse 11. refuse to accept the slow-moving waters of Shiloah.#8:6 Shiloah A channel that carried water from Gihon Spring to a pool at the south end of the City of David (Jerusalem). Men from David’s family were anointed to be kings there. They prefer Rezin and Remaliah’s son.” 7But the Lord will bring the king of Assyria and all his power against them. The Assyrians will come like their swift moving river, like water that rises and spills over its banks. 8This water will be like a flash flood as it passes through Judah. It will rise to Judah’s throat and almost drown him.
But he will spread his wings over your whole country, Immanuel.#8:8 But he … Immanuel Or “Immanuel, it will spread throughout your whole country.” This might be a promise of God’s protection, or it might be a warning about Assyria’s power.
9All you nations, prepare for war.
You will be defeated.
Listen, all you faraway countries!
Prepare for battle.
You will be defeated.
10Make your plans for the fight.
Your plans will be defeated.
Give orders to your armies,
but your orders will be useless,
because God is with us!#8:10 God is with us In Hebrew this is like the name Immanuel.
Warnings to Isaiah
11The Lord spoke to me with his great power and warned#8:11 warned Or “prevented.” me not to be like these people. He said, 12“Don’t think there is a plan against you just because the people say there is. Don’t be afraid of what they fear. Don’t let them frighten you!”
13The Lord All-Powerful is the one you should fear. He is the one you should respect.#8:13 respect Literally, “consider holy.” He is the one who should frighten you. 14If you people would respect him, he would be a safe place#8:14 safe place Or “holy place.” for you. But you don’t respect him, so he is like a stone that you stumble over. He is a rock that makes both families of Israel fall. He has become a trap that all the people of Jerusalem will fall into. 15(Many people will trip over this rock. They will fall and be broken. They will be caught in the trap.)
16 The Lord said, “Write this agreement.#8:16 Write this agreement Or “Take a document.” This could refer to the large scroll in verse 1 or to the promise that follows in verse 17. Tie it up and seal it so that it cannot be changed. Give these teachings to my followers for safekeeping.”
17The Lord has turned away from the family of Jacob.
But I will wait for him.
I trust that he will come to save us.
18Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. We are here as signs from the Lord All-Powerful, who lives on Mount Zion. He is using us to show his plans for the people of Israel.
19The people will say, “Go to the fortunetellers and wizards who mumble and chirp like birds. Ask them what to do.” But I say, “Shouldn’t people go to their God for help? Why go to the dead to get help for the living?” 20You should follow the teachings and the agreement.#8:20 agreement This usually means the agreement God made with Israel through Moses. Here, it probably means the agreement in verse 17. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you. 21When the enemy comes, there will be hard times and hunger. And when he becomes hungry, he will become angry. He will say curses in the name of his king and his gods. Then he will lift his head upwards like a roaring lion. 22And when the captives turn their faces to the ground, there is only a depressing darkness closing in—the dark sadness of people forced to leave their country.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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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