Isaiah 8

Isaiah and His Children as Signs

8The Lord said to me, “Take a large scrollⁿ and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”^{ao 2}So I called in Uriah^p the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses^q for me. ³Then I made love to the prophetess,^r and she conceived and gave birth to a son.^s And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.^{t 4}For before the boy knows^u how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus^v and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.^w”

⁵The Lord spoke to me again:

⁶“Because this people has rejected^x

the gently flowing waters of Shiloah^y

and rejoices over Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,^z

⁷therefore the Lord is about to bring against them

the mighty floodwaters^a of the Euphrates—

the king of Assyria^b with all his pomp.^c

It will overflow all its channels,

run over all its banks^d

⁸and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,^e

passing through it and reaching up to the neck.

Its outspread wings^f will cover the breadth of your land,

Immanuel^b!”^g

⁹Raise the war cry,^ch you nations, and be shattered!ⁱ

Listen, all you distant lands.

Prepare^j for battle, and be shattered!

Prepare for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;^k

propose your plan, but it will not stand,^l

for God is with us.^dm

¹¹This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,ⁿ warning me not to follow^o the way of this people:

¹²“Do not call conspiracy^p

everything this people calls a conspiracy;

do not fear what they fear,^q

and do not dread it.^r

¹³The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,^s

he is the one you are to fear,^t

he is the one you are to dread.^u

¹⁴He will be a holy place;^v

for both Israel and Judah he will be

a stone^w that causes people to stumble^x

and a rock that makes them fall.^y

And for the people of Jerusalem he will be

a trap and a snare.^z

¹⁵Many of them will stumble;^a

they will fall and be broken,

they will be snared and captured.”

¹⁶Bind up this testimony of warning^b

and seal^c up God’s instruction among my disciples.

¹⁷I will wait^d for the Lord,

who is hiding^e his face from the descendants of Jacob.

I will put my trust in him.^f

¹⁸Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.^g We are signs^h and symbolsⁱ in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.^j

The Darkness Turns to Light

¹⁹When someone tells you to consult^k mediums and spiritists,^l who whisper and mutter,^m should not a people inquireⁿ of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰Consult God’s instruction^o and the testimony of warning.^p If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light^q of dawn. ²¹Distressed and hungry,^r they will roam through the land;^s when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse^t their king and their God. ²²Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,^u and they will be thrust into utter darkness.^v