Isaiah 8

Isaiah's Son as a Sign to the People

1 The Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: t ‘Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.’ 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses.”

3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, “Name him ‘Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.’ 4 Before the boy is old enough to say ‘Mamma’ and ‘Daddy,’ all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

The Emperor of Assyria Is Coming

5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, “Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook t and tremble t before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything.” God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. t

9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us.

The Lord Warns the Prophet

11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 t “Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 t Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap.”

Warning against Consulting the Dead

16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 t The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.

18  t Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel.

19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, “After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living.”

20 You are to answer them, “Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums—what they tell you cannot keep trouble away.” t

A Time of Trouble

21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Isaiah 8

1 And Jehovah said unto me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz;2 and I will take 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 Jehovah unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.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 carried away before the king of Assyria.5 And Jehovah spake unto me yet again, saying,6 Forasmuch as this people have refused 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 it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks;8 and it shall sweep onward into Judah; it shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.9 Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces.10 Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.11 For Jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,12 Say ye not, A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people shall say, A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread thereof.13 Jehovah of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; 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 shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.16 Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.17 And I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.18 Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?20 To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.21 And they shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward:22 and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.