Isaiah 8–9

8TH CHAPTER

Isaiah’s Child Is a Sign of the Lord’s Protection of Judah

¹The Lord said to me, “Take a large writing tablet, and write on it with a pen: ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz’ ^[The Looting Will Come Quickly; the Prey Will Be Easy^[. ²I will have these dependable witnesses testify: the priest Uriah and Zechariah (son of Jeberechiah).” 

³I slept with the prophet. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz. ⁴Before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria.” 

Assyria Will Invade, but It Will Not Conquer Judah

⁵The Lord spoke to me again. He said, 

⁶“These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah 

and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah’s son.” 

⁷That is why the Lord is going to bring against them 

the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River— 

the king of Assyria with all his power. 

It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks. 

⁸It will sweep through Judah. 

It will overflow and pass through; it will be neck-high. 

Its outspread wings will extend over your whole country, O Immanuel. 

⁹Be broken, you people. Be terrified. 

Listen, all you distant parts of the earth. 

Prepare for battle, but be terrified. 

Prepare for battle, but be terrified. 

¹⁰Make plans for battle, but they will never succeed. 

Give orders, but they won’t be carried out, 

because God is with us! 

Some in Jerusalem Will Stumble Because They Do Not Trust the Lord

¹¹This is what the Lord said with his powerful hand on me. 

He warned me not to follow the ways of these people: 

¹²“Don’t say that everything these people call a conspiracy 

is a conspiracy. 

Don’t fear what they fear. 

Don’t let it terrify you.” 

¹³Remember that the Lord of Armies is holy. 

He is the one you should fear 

and the one you should be terrified of. 

¹⁴He will be a place of safety for you. 

But he will be a rock that makes people trip 

and a stumbling block for both kingdoms of Israel. 

He will be a trap and a snare for those who live in Jerusalem. 

¹⁵Many will stumble. 

They will fall and be broken. 

They will be trapped and caught. 

¹⁶Tie up the written instructions. 

Seal the teachings among my disciples. 

¹⁷I will wait for the Lord, 

who hides his face from the descendants of Jacob. 

I will hope in him. 

¹⁸I am here with the children that the Lord has given me. 

We are signs and symbols in Israel 

from the Lord of Armies, who lives on Mount Zion. 

¹⁹People will say to you, “Ask for help from the mediums 

and the fortunetellers, who whisper and mutter.” 

Shouldn’t people ask their God for help instead? 

Why should they ask the dead to help the living? 

²⁰They should go to the teachings and to the written instructions. 

If people don’t speak these words, 

it is because it doesn’t dawn on them. 

²¹They will pass through the land when they are hard-pressed and hungry. 

When they are hungry, they will be furious. 

Then they will look up, cursing their king and God. 

²²They will look at the earth and see only distress and gloom. 

They will go in anguish and be forced into darkness. 

9TH CHAPTER^a

¹But there will be no more gloom 

for the land that is in distress. 

God humbled the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in earlier times. 

But in the future he will bring glory to the road by the sea, 

to the land across the Jordan River, 

to Galilee, where foreigners live. 

A Child Will Be Born as the Prince of Peace

²The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. 

The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow. 

³You will expand the nation and increase its happiness. 

It will be happy in your presence 

like those who celebrate the harvest 

or rejoice when dividing loot. 

⁴You will break the yoke^bthat burdens them, 

the bar that is across their shoulders, 

and the stick used by their oppressor, 

as ⸤you did in the battle against⸥ Midian. 

⁵Every warrior’s boot marching to the sound of battle 

and every garment rolled in blood 

will be burned as fuel in the fire. 

⁶A child will be born for us. 

A son will be given to us. 

The government will rest on his shoulders. 

He will be named: 

Wonderful Counselor, 

Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace. 

⁷His government and peace will have unlimited growth. 

He will establish David’s throne and kingdom. 

He will uphold it with justice and righteousness now and forever. 

The Lord of Armies is determined to do this! 

The Lord’s Message against His People

⁸The Lord sent a message against Jacob. 

The message is against Israel. 

⁹All the people of Ephraim 

and the people who live in Samaria will know it. 

With arrogant and conceited hearts they will say, 

¹⁰“Bricks have fallen, 

but we will rebuild with hand-cut stones. 

Fig trees have been cut down, 

but we will replace them with cedars.” 

¹¹The Lord will set Rezin’s oppressors against Israel 

and will stir up its enemies— 

¹²the Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west. 

They will devour Israel with open mouths. 

Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, 

and he is still ready to use his power. 

¹³But the people have not returned to the one who struck them, 

nor have they sought the Lord of Armies. 

¹⁴So in one day the Lord will cut off from Israel 

both head and tail, 

both palm branches and cattails. 

¹⁵Respected and honored leaders are the head. 

Prophets who teach lies are the tail. 

¹⁶Those who guide these people lead them astray. 

Those who are guided by them will be destroyed. 

¹⁷That is why the Lord isn’t happy with their young men, 

nor will he show compassion for their orphans and widows. 

Every one of them is a godless evildoer, 

and every mouth speaks foolishness. 

Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, 

and he is still ready to use his power. 

¹⁸Surely wickedness burns like fire. 

It burns up briars and thorns. 

It sets the underbrush in the forest on fire, 

and it whirls upward in clouds of smoke. 

¹⁹The land is scorched by the fury of the Lord of Armies, 

and the people are like fuel for the fire. 

No one shows concern for others: 

²⁰On the right, one gobbles up food and is still hungry. 

On the left, another eats and is never full. 

Each person eats the flesh from his own arm. 

²¹Manasseh is against Ephraim. 

Ephraim is against Manasseh. 

Together they attack Judah. 

Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, 

and he is still ready to use his power.