Isaiah 8

Assyria Will Invade the Land

8Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and ^awrite on it with a man’s pen concerning ¹Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ²And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, ^bUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³Then 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; ^4cfor before the child ²shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ ^dthe riches of Damascus and the ³spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:

⁶“Inasmuch as these people refused

The waters of ^eShiloah that flow softly,

And rejoice ^fin Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;

⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them

The waters of ⁴the River, strong and mighty—

The king of Assyria and all his glory;

He will ⁵go up over all his channels

And go over all his banks.

⁸He will pass through Judah,

He will overflow and pass over,

^gHe will reach up to the neck;

And the stretching out of his wings

Will ⁶fill the breadth of Your land, O ^hImmanuel. ⁷

⁹“Be ⁱshattered, 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.

^10jTake counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

Speak the word, ^kbut it will not stand,

^lFor ⁸God is with us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with ⁹a 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 ¹threats, nor be ²troubled.

¹³The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;

Let Him be your fear,

And let Him be your dread.

^14mHe will be as a ³sanctuary,

But ⁿa stone of stumbling and a rock of ⁴offense

To both the houses of Israel,

As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵And many among them shall ^ostumble;

They shall fall and be broken,

Be snared and ⁵taken.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony,

Seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷And I will wait on the Lord,

Who ^phides His face from the house of Jacob;

And I ^qwill hope in Him.

^18rHere am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!

We ^sare for signs and wonders in Israel

From the Lord of hosts,

Who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹And when they say to you, ^t“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, ^uwho whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they ^vseek the dead on behalf of the living? ^20wTo the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^xthere ⁶is no light in them.

²¹They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and ^ycurse ⁷their king and their God, and look upward. ²²Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.