Isaiah 8

Damascus and Samaria Fall

Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it [a]in ordinary letters: [b]Maher-shalal-hash-baz. And [c]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him [d]Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates River,
That is, the king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.
Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
It will reach as far as the neck;
And the spread of its wings will [e]fill the expanse of [f]your land, Immanuel.

A Believing Remnant

“Be broken, you peoples, and be [g]shattered;
And listen, all remote places of the earth.
[h]Get ready, yet be [i]shattered;
[j]Get ready, yet be [k]shattered.
10 Devise a plan, but it will fail;
State a [l]proposal, but it will not stand,
For [m]God is with us.”

11 For so the Lord spoke to me [n]with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear [o]what they fear or be in dread of it.
13 It is the Lord of armies whom you are to regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
14 Then He will become a sanctuary;
But to both houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock [p]of offense,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will be snared and caught.”

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the [q]Law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of armies, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19 When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living? 20 To the [r]Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through [s]the land dejected and hungry, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will become enraged and curse [t]their king and their God as they face upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:1 Lit with the stylus of man
  2. Isaiah 8:1 I.e., swift is the plunder, speedy is the prey
  3. Isaiah 8:2 Another reading is take for me
  4. Isaiah 8:3 I.e., swift is the plunder, speedy is the prey
  5. Isaiah 8:8 Lit be the fullness of
  6. Isaiah 8:8 Or Your
  7. Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
  8. Isaiah 8:9 Lit Belt up your waist
  9. Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
  10. Isaiah 8:9 Lit Belt up your waist
  11. Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
  12. Isaiah 8:10 Lit word
  13. Isaiah 8:10 Heb Immanu-el
  14. Isaiah 8:11 Lit according to the strength of hand
  15. Isaiah 8:12 Lit their fear
  16. Isaiah 8:14 Or to trip on
  17. Isaiah 8:16 Or teaching
  18. Isaiah 8:20 Or teaching
  19. Isaiah 8:21 Lit it
  20. Isaiah 8:21 Or by their king