Isaiah 8

1 And YHWH says to me, “Take a great tablet to yourself, and write on it with an engraving tool of man, To hurry spoil, enjoy prey.”

Then the Lord told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in with an ordinary pen, ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’

2 And I cause faithful witnesses to testify to me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”

3 And I draw near to the prophetess, and she conceives, and bears a son; and YHWH says to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

Then I slept with my wife the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 for before the youth knows to cry, My father, and, My mother, one takes away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.”

For even before the boy knows how to say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy,’ the king of Assyria will carry off Damascus' wealth and Samaria's possessions.”

5 And YHWH adds to speak to me again, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying,

6 “Because that this people has refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

“Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,

7 Therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up on them, The waters of the river, the mighty and the great (The king of Asshur, and all his glory), And it has gone up over all its streams, And has gone on over all its banks.

the Lord is going to bring the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River against them—the king of Assyria with all his glorious army. It will flood all its channels and overflow all its banks.

8 And it has passed on into Judah, It has overflown and passed over, It comes to the neck, And the stretching out of its wings Has been the fullness of the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!

It will sweep on into Judah, overflowing and flooding through, reaching up to the neck. Like outspread wings it will engulf the whole of your land, Immanuel!

9 Be friends, O nations, and be broken, And give ear, all you far-off ones of earth, Gird yourselves, and be broken, Gird yourselves, and be broken.

Pay attention, you nations, and be smashed! Listen, all you distant lands, get ready, but you will be smashed. Get ready, but you will be smashed.

10 Take counsel, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it does not stand, Because of Immanuel!”

You can plan your strategy, but it will be foiled; you can say what you're intending, but it won't happen, for God is with us.”

11 For thus has YHWH spoken to me with strength of hand, and instructs me against walking in the way of this people, saying,

For this is what the Lord told me, holding me with a strong hand, instructing me not to follow the way of this people. He said,

12 “You do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people says, A confederacy, And its fear you do not fear, Nor declare fearful.

Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed!

13 YHWH of Hosts—Him you sanctify, And He [is] your Fear, and He your Dread,

The Lord Almighty is the one you should see as holy. He is the one you should fear, he is the one you should be in awe of.

14 And He has been for a sanctuary, And for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, To the two houses of Israel, For a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

He will be a sanctuary for you. But to the royal families of both Israel and Judah he will be a stone they trip over and a rock that makes them stumble, a trap and a snare to the people who live in Jerusalem.

15 And many among them have stumbled and fallen, And been broken, and snared, and captured.”

Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.

16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the Law among My disciples.

Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.

17 And I have waited for YHWH, Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, And I have looked for Him.

I will wait for the Lord, the one who is hiding his face from Jacob's descendants. I will wait in hope for him.

18 Behold, I, and the children whom YHWH has given to me, [Are] for signs and for wonders in Israel, From YHWH of Hosts, who is dwelling in Mount Zion.

Look, I'm here, together with the children the Lord has given me. They are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who lives on Mount Zion.

19 And when they say to you, “Seek to those having familiar spirits, And to wizards, who chatter and mutter,” Does a people not seek to its God? To the dead on behalf of the living?

When someone suggests to you, “Go and ask mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter,” shouldn't people ask their God? Why should they ask the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the Law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, “That there is no dawn to it.”

Go and examine God's law and his instructions! If what they say doesn't correspond with God's word, there will be no dawn for them.

21 And it has passed over into it, hardened and hungry, And it has come to pass, That it is hungry, and has been angry, And made light of its king, and of its God, And has looked upwards.

They will wander round the country, depressed and hungry. When they are starving they will become furious, and looking up they will curse their king and their God.

22 And it looks attentively to the land, And behold, adversity and darkness! Dimness, distress, and thick darkness are driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

Then they will look towards the earth and see only misery and gloom and agonizing depression, and they will be thrown out into the darkness.