Isaiah 8

¹And the Lord said to me: “Take up for yourself a large book, and with a man’s pen write in it: ‘Take away the spoils quickly; plunder swiftly.’ ”

²And I summoned to myself faithful witnesses: Uriah, the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.

³And I joined with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me: “Call his name: ‘Rush to take away the spoils; Hurry to be plundered.’

⁴For before the boy knows how to call to his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be taken away, in the sight of the king of the Assyrians.”

⁵And the Lord spoke to me further, saying:

⁶“Because this people has cast aside the waters of Shiloah, which go forth silently, and has instead chosen Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

⁷for this reason, behold, the Lord will lead over them the waters of a river, strong and plentiful: the king of the Assyrians with all his glory. And he will rise up throughout all his streams, and he will overflow all his banks.

⁸And he will pass through Judah, inundating it, and he will cross over and arrive, even at its neck. And he will extend his wings, filling the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

⁹O people, gather together, and be conquered! All distant lands, listen! Be strengthened, and be conquered! Gird yourselves, and be conquered!

¹⁰Undertake a plan, and it will be dissipated! Speak a word, and it will not be done! For God is with us.

¹¹For the Lord said this to me, and he has instructed this to me with a strong hand, lest I go forth in the way of this people, saying:

¹²“You should not say ‘It is conspiracy!’ For all that this people speaks is a conspiracy. And you should not be frightened or alarmed with their fear.

¹³Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your dread, and let him be your fear.

¹⁴And so shall he be a sanctification to you. But he will be a stone of offense and a rock of scandal to the two houses of Israel, and a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵And very many of them will stumble and fall, and they will be broken and entangled and seized.

¹⁶Bind the testimony, seal the law, among my disciples.”

¹⁷And I will wait for the Lord, who has concealed his face from the house of Jacob, and I will stand before him.

¹⁸Behold: I and my children, whom the Lord has given to me as a sign and a portent, in Israel, from the Lord of hosts, who lives on Mount Zion.

¹⁹And though they say to you, “Seek from seers and diviners,” they who hiss in their incantations, should not the people seek from their God, for the sake of the living, and not from the dead?

²⁰And this is, moreover, for the sake of the law and the testimony. But if they do not speak according to this Word, then he will not have the morning light.

²¹And he will pass by it; he will fall and become hungry. And when he is hungry, he will become angry, and he will speak evil against his king and his God, and he will lift himself upward.

²²And he will gaze downward to the earth, and behold: tribulation and darkness, dissolution and distress, and a pursuing gloom. For he will not be able to fly away from its distress.

Isaiah 8

¹Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher–shalal–hash–baz.

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

³And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher–shalal–hash–baz.

⁴For 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.

⁵The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,

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

⁷Now 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:

⁸And 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.

⁹Associate 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.

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

¹¹For 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,

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

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

¹⁴And 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.

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

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

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

¹⁸Behold, 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.

¹⁹And 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?

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

²¹And 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.

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