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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Isaiah 8: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 8
8
1And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and write thereon with a man's style, concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2And I took unto me to witness, sure witnesses, Urijah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3And I came near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son; and Jehovah said unto me, Call his name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For before the lad knoweth 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. 5And Jehovah spoke again to me, saying, 6Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, and rejoiceth in Rezin and in the son of Remaliah, 7therefore behold, the Lord will bring up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall mount up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow it and go further, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!
9Rage, ye peoples, and be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth: Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces! 10Settle a plan, and it shall come to nought; speak a word, and it shall not stand: for ·God#GodHebrew: El is with us. 11For Jehovah spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and he instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, 12Ye shall not say, Conspiracy, of everything of which this people saith, Conspiracy; and fear ye not their fear, and be not in dread. 13Jehovah of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he will be for a sanctuary; and 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. 15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait for Jehovah, who hideth his face from the house of Jacob; and I will look for him. 18Behold, I and the children that Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel, from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion. 19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto the necromancers and unto the soothsayers, who chirp and who mutter, say, Shall not a people seek unto their God#GodHebrew: Elohim Will they go for the living unto the dead? 20To the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak. 21And they shall pass through it, hard pressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass when they are hungry, they will fret themselves, and curse their king and their God#GodHebrew: Elohim and will gaze upward: 22and they will look to the earth; and behold, trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they shall be driven into thick darkness.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.