Isaiah 8
8
Isaiah’s Child Is a Sign of the LORD’s Protection of Judah
1The Lord said to me, “Take a large writing tablet, and write on it with a pen: ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz’ [The Looting Will Come Quickly; the Prey Will Be Easy]. 2I will have these dependable witnesses testify: the priest Uriah and Zechariah (son of Jeberechiah).”
3I slept with the prophet. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz. 4Before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria.”
Assyria Will Invade, but It Will Not Conquer Judah
5The Lord spoke to me again. He said,
6“These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah
and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah’s son.”
7That is why the Lord is going to bring against them
the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River—
the king of Assyria with all his power.
It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks.
8It will sweep through Judah.
It will overflow and pass through; it will be neck-high.
Its outspread wings will extend over your whole country, O Immanuel.
9Be broken, you people. Be terrified.
Listen, all you distant parts of the earth.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
10Make plans for battle, but they will never succeed.
Give orders, but they won’t be carried out,
because God is with us!
Some in Jerusalem Will Stumble Because They Do Not Trust the LORD
11This is what the Lord said with his powerful hand on me.
He warned me not to follow the ways of these people:
12“Don’t say that everything these people call a conspiracy
is a conspiracy.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t let it terrify you.”
13Remember that the Lord of Armies is holy.
He is the one you should fear
and the one you should be terrified of.
14He will be a place of safety for you.
But he will be a rock that makes people trip
and a stumbling block for both kingdoms of Israel.
He will be a trap and a snare for those who live in Jerusalem.
15Many will stumble.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and caught.
16Tie up the written instructions.
Seal the teachings among my disciples.
17I will wait for the Lord,
who hides his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will hope in him.
18I am here with the children that the Lord has given me.
We are signs and symbols in Israel
from the Lord of Armies, who lives on Mount Zion.
19People will say to you, “Ask for help from the mediums
and the fortunetellers, who whisper and mutter.”
Shouldn’t people ask their God for help instead?
Why should they ask the dead to help the living?
20They should go to the teachings and to the written instructions.
If people don’t speak these words,
it is because it doesn’t dawn on them.
21They will pass through the land when they are hard-pressed and hungry.
When they are hungry, they will be furious.
Then they will look up, cursing their king and God.
22They will look at the earth and see only distress and gloom.
They will go in anguish and be forced into darkness.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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