Isaiah 8

1 And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man’s pen. Take sway the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey.

Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.

And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make haste to take away the prey.

And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians.

For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

5 And the Lord spoke to me again, saying:

And the LORD spoke to me further:

6 Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Basin, and the son of Romelia:

“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

7 Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks,

the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates — the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.

8 And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel.

It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!

9 Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome.

Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!

10 Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us.

Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

11 For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

12 Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.

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

The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.

14 And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone or stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And He will be a sanctuary— but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.

15 And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken.

Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”

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

Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.

18 Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion.

Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead?

When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

21 And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards.

They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

22 And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress.

Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.