Isaiah 8

1 And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

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

3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Jehovah said to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

5 And Jehovah spoke to me yet again, saying,

6 Inasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son,

7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the River, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks,

8 and it shall sweep onward into Judah. It shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

9 Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and be broken in pieces. And give ear, all ye of far countries. Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces. Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to nothing. Speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.

11 For Jehovah spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A conspiracy, concerning all of which this people shall say, A conspiracy, nor fear ye their fear, nor be in dread of it.

13 Jehovah of hosts, him ye shall sanctify, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 And he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a net and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many shall stumble on it, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16 Bind thou up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait for Jehovah, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will be a man who has trusted in him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say to you, Seek for those who have familiar spirits and for the wizards, who chirp and who mutter, should not a people seek for their God? On behalf of the living seek to the dead?

20 Seek to the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

21 And they shall pass through it, greatly distressed and hungry. And it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward.

22 And they shall look to the earth, and, behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and into thick darkness to be driven away.