Isaiah 8

Isaiah and His Children as Signs

The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll^a and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”^b So I called in Uriah^c the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses^d for me. Then I made love to the prophetess,^e and she conceived and gave birth to a son.^f And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.^g Before the boy knows^h how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascusⁱ and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.^j”

The Lord spoke to me again:

“Because this people has rejected^k

the gently flowing waters of Shiloah^l

and rejoices over Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,^m

therefore the Lord is about to bring against them

the mighty floodwatersⁿ of the Euphrates—

the king of Assyria^o with all his pomp.^p

It will overflow all its channels,

run over all its banks^q

and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,^r

passing through it and reaching up to the neck.

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

Immanuel!”^t

Raise the war cry,^u you nations, and be shattered!^v

Listen, all you distant lands.

Prepare^w for battle, and be shattered!

Prepare for battle, and be shattered!

Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;^x

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

for God is with us.^z

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

“Do not call conspiracy^c

everything this people calls a conspiracy;

do not fear what they fear,^d

and do not dread it.^e

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

he is the one you are to fear,^g

he is the one you are to dread.^h

He will be a holy place;ⁱ

for both houses of Israel he will be

a stone^j that causes people to stumble^k

and a rock that makes them fall.^l

And for the people of Jerusalem he will be

a trap and a snare.^m

Many of them will stumble;ⁿ

they will fall and be broken,

they will be snared and captured.”

Bind up this testimony of warning^o

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

I will wait^q for the Lord,

who is hiding^r his face from the house of Jacob.

I will put my trust in him.^s

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.^t We are signs^u and symbols^v in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.^w

The Darkness Turns to Light

When someone tells you to consult^a mediums and spiritists,^b who whisper and mutter,^c should not a people inquire^d of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction^e and the testimony of warning.^f If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light^g of dawn. Distressed and hungry,^h they will roam through the land;ⁱ when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse^j their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,^k and they will be thrust into utter darkness.^l