Isaiah 8

Assyria Will Invade the Land

1 Moreover the Lord said to me, Take a large scroll, and write on it with a mans pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to 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 will be taken away before the king of Assyria.5 The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:6 Inasmuch as these people refused The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliahs son;7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them The waters of the River, strong and mighty The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels And go over all his banks.8 He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.9 Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us.

Fear God, Heed His Word

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:12 Do not say, A conspiracy, Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread.14 He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.15 And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken.16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples.17 And I will wait on the Lord, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him.18 Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.19 And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward.22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.

Isaiah 9

The Government of the Promised Son

1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles.2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.3 You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.5 For every warriors sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The Punishment of Samaria

8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel.9 All the people will know Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:10 The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.11 Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on,12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day.15 The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.17 Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.18 For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke.19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.20 And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 10

1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed2 To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.3 What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?4 Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, And they shall fall among the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.7 Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations.8 For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings?9  Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.13 For he says: By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, And have robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. 14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, And as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; And there was no one who moved his wing, Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Will send leanness among his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a burning Like the burning of a fire.17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day.18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest Will be so few in number That a child may write them.

The Returning Remnant of Israel

20 And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God.22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.23 For the Lord God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land.24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt.25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.26 And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.27 It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.28 He has come to Aiath, He has passed Migron; At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.29 They have gone along the ridge, They have taken up lodging at Geba. Ramah is afraid, Gibeah of Saul has fled.30 Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Cause it to be heard as far as Laish O poor Anathoth!31 Madmenah has fled, The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.32 As yet he will remain at Nob that day; He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.33 Behold, the Lord, The Lord of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled.34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.