Isaiah 8

1 YHWH said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'

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 will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Berechiah."

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

3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said YHWH 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 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."

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 YHWH spoke to me yet again, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to me again, saying,

6 "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

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

7 now therefore, look, YHWH 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.

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 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.

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 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces. Listen, all you from far countries. Prepare for battle, and be shattered.

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 together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."

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 YHWH spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk 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 "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.

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 is who you must regard as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must 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 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.

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 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured."

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

16 Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

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

17 I will wait for YHWH, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in 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 Look, I and the children whom God has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from YHWH of hosts, who dwells on 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 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?"

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 Turn to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

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 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,

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 look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.

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.