Isaiah 8

1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

2 And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

3 And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

5 And the LORD spoke to me further:

6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.

8 It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!

9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!

10 Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

11 For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

12 “Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.

13 The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.

14 And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.

15 Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”

16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.

18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

21 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

1 ¶ Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,

6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

9 ¶ Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God [is] with us.

11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.

14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16 ¶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.

9 Be ye wicked, ye nations, and yet give way. Hear ye, all ye that are in far countries, Prepare yourselves, and give flight: rather, prepare yourselves, and give flight.

10 Take counsel, and nothing shall come of it. Come to an agreement, and nothing will come of it; for here is Immanuel.

11 For thus saith the LORD unto me, as if he had taken me by the hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 Ye shall not say, Covenant. This people speak of nothing but covenant. Fear not therefore, as they do; neither be afraid,

13 But sanctify the LORD of hosts. Let him be your fear and your terror,

14 He shall be a sanctification, but a stumblingblock and a rock of offence unto the two houses of Israel, a snare and a trial unto the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

15 That many of them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be entangled, and be taken.

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law unto my disciples.

17 For I hope in the LORD, which hid his face from the house of Jacob: but I wait for him.

18 Behold, here am I, and the children which the LORD hath given me, for a sign and for a wonder in Israel, from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19 And when they say unto you, Ye must ask the diviners and the interpreters of signs, which prate and debate; say ye, Shall not a people ask their God? or shall the dead be asked for the living?

20 Yea, according to the law and testimony. If they will not say this, they will not have the dawn,

21 But shall go about in the land smitten hard, and hungry. And when they are hungry, they shall be wroth, and curse their king, and their God.

22 And they shall look upon the earth above them, and shall look upon the earth beneath them, and shall find nothing but gloom and darkness: for they are weary with fear, and go astray in darkness. Ch. 9, v. 1: For there shall be another trouble that troubleth them, as in the days of old, when it was easy in the land of Zebulun, and in the land of Naphtali; and afterward it was hard by the way of the sea, on this side Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles.