Isaiah 8

1 And the Lord said to me: “Take up for yourself a large book, and with a man’s pen write in it: ‘Take away the spoils quickly; plunder swiftly.’”

And Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and with a man's writing-instrument write on it, Hasteth-the-prey, Speedeth-the-spoil.

2 And I summoned to myself faithful witnesses: Uriah, the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.

And I took with me faithful witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.

3 And I joined with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me: “Call his name: ‘Rush to take away the spoils; Hurry to be plundered.’

I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then said Jehovah to me, Call his name, Hasteth-the-prey, Speedeth-the-spoil.

4 For before the boy knows how to call to his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be taken away, in the sight of the king of the Assyrians.”

For before the child shall learn to say, My father, and My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be borne away before the king of Assyria.

5 And the Lord spoke to me further, saying:

Moreover, Jehovah spake to me again, saying:

6 “Because this people has cast aside the waters of Shiloah, which go forth silently, and has instead chosen Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

Because this people despiseth The soft-flowing waters of Siloah, And rejoiceth in Rezin, and the son of Remaliah,

7 for this reason, behold, the Lord will lead over them the waters of a river, strong and plentiful: the king of the Assyrians with all his glory. And he will rise up throughout all his streams, and he will overflow all his banks.

Therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the strong and mighty waters of the river; [[The king of Assyria and all his glory.]] He shall rise above all his channels, And go over all his banks.

8 And he will pass through Judah, inundating it, and he will cross over and arrive, even at its neck. And he will extend his wings, filling the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

And he shall pass through Judah, overflowing and spreading; Even to the neck shall he reach, And his stretched-out wings shall fill the whole breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!

9 O people, gather together, and be conquered! All distant lands, listen! Be strengthened, and be conquered! Gird yourselves, and be conquered!

Rage, ye nations, and despair! Give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth! Gird yourselves, and despair! Gird yourselves, and despair!

10 Undertake a plan, and it will be dissipated! Speak a word, and it will not be done! For God is with us.

Form your plan, and it shall come to naught; Give the command, and it shall not stand; For God is with us.

11 For the Lord said this to me, and he has instructed this to me with a strong hand, lest I go forth in the way of this people, saying:

For thus spake Jehovah to me with a strong hand, Instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

12 “You should not say ‘It is conspiracy!’ For all that this people speaks is a conspiracy. And you should not be frightened or alarmed with their fear.

Call not everything a confederacy which this people calleth a confederacy; Fear ye not what they fear, Neither be afraid!

13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your dread, and let him be your fear.

Jehovah of hosts, sanctify ye him; Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread!

14 And so shall he be a sanctification to you. But he will be a stone of offense and a rock of scandal to the two houses of Israel, and a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And he shall be to you a sanctuary; But a stone of stumbling, and a rock to strike against, To the two houses of Israel, A trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And very many of them will stumble and fall, and they will be broken and entangled and seized.

And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall, and be broken; They shall be ensnared and taken.

16 Bind the testimony, seal the law, among my disciples.”

Bind up the revelation, Seal the word, with my disciples!

17 And I will wait for the Lord, who has concealed his face from the house of Jacob, and I will stand before him.

I will, therefore, wait for Jehovah, Who now hideth his face from the house of Jacob; Yet will I look for him.

18 Behold: I and my children, whom the Lord has given to me as a sign and a portent, in Israel, from the Lord of hosts, who lives on Mount Zion.

Behold, I, and the children which Jehovah hath given me, Are signs and tokens in Israel From Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth upon mount Zion.

19 And though they say to you, “Seek from seers and diviners,” they who hiss in their incantations, should not the people seek from their God, for the sake of the living, and not from the dead?

And when they shall say to you, “Inquire of the necromancers and the wizards, That chirp, and that murmur,” [[Then say ye, ]] “Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead for the living?”

20 And this is, moreover, for the sake of the law and the testimony. But if they do not speak according to this Word, then he will not have the morning light.

To the word, to the revelation! If they speak not according to this, For them no bright morning shall arise.

21 And he will pass by it; he will fall and become hungry. And when he is hungry, he will become angry, and he will speak evil against his king and his God, and he will lift himself upward.

They shall pass through the land distressed and famished; And when they are famished, they shall be enraged, and curse their king and their God, And look upward.

22 And he will gaze downward to the earth, and behold: tribulation and darkness, dissolution and distress, and a pursuing gloom. For he will not be able to fly away from its distress.

And if they look to the earth, Behold distress and darkness, fearful darkness! And into darkness shall they be driven.