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.

And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a volume of a great new [book], and write in it with a man's pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.

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

And make me witnesses [of] faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.

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 went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.

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 child shall know [how] to call [his] father or [his] mother, [one] shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.

5 And the Lord spoke to me again, saying:

And the Lord spoke to me yet again, [saying],

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 chooses not the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wills to have Rassin, and the son of Romelias [to be] king over you;

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,

therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, [even] the king of the Assyrians, and his glory: and he shall come up over every valley of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours:

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.

and he shall take away from Juda [every] man who shall be able to lift up his head, [and every one] able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall fill the breadth of thy land, [O] God with us.

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.

Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered.

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

And whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: 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:

Thus saith the Lord, With a strong hand they revolt from the course of the way of this people, saying,

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

Let them not say, [It is] hard, for whatsoever this people says, is hard: but fear not ye their fear, neither be dismayed.

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

Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear.

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 if thou shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come against [him] as against a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit.

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

Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely.

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

Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.

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

And [one] shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will 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.

Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be [for] signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion.

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?

And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning 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.

For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.

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.

And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, [that] when ye shall be hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above,

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.

and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that [one cannot] see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.