< Isaiah 8 >
1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'
2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Berechiah."
3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.'
4 For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."
5 The LORD spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7 now therefore, look, the LORD brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.
9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces. Listen, all you from far countries. Prepare for battle, and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 "Do not say, 'A conspiracy.' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy.' And do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
13 The LORD of hosts is who you must regard as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
14 And he will be a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock that makes them fall to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured."
16 Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.
18 Look, I and the children whom God has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19 When they tell you, "Consult with the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits who chirp and who mutter. Shouldn't a people consult with their gods, by consulting the dead on behalf of the living?"
20 Turn to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
21 They will pass through it, greatly distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,
22 and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.
