Isaiah 8

1 And Yahweh said unto me: Take thee a large tablet, —and write thereon in plain characters, To Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ["Speed-spoil-hurry-prey".]

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

2 That I may take in attestation, faithful witnesses, —even Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

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

3 Then approached I unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son, —and Yahweh said unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

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 boy shall have knowledge to cry, My father! and, My mother! the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

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 again Yahweh spake unto me yet further saying:

And the LORD spoke to me further:

6 Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, —and are rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

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

7 now therefore, lo! the Lord is about to bring up against them the waters, strong and many, of the River ["Euphrates"], even the king of Assyria and all his glory, —and he shall rise over all his channels, and flow over 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 roll on throughout Judah—overflow and pass along, till unto the neck, he shall reach, —and it shall be, that, the stretching out of his wings, shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!

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 Rage, O ye peoples, —and be overthrown, And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth, —Gird yourselves and be overthrown, Gird yourselves, and be overthrown:

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 Determine a plan, —and it shall be frustrated, —Speak a word, and it shall not stand, For With-us-is-GOD!

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

11 For, thus, spake Yahweh unto me like a firm grasp of the hand, —when he admonished me, not to 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 Ye shall not say—A confederacy! of everything of which this people may say. A confederacy! And their fear, shall ye not fear or regard as awful:

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

13 Yahweh of hosts, him, shall ye hallow, —And let, him, be your fear, and let, him inspire you with awe;

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

14 So shall he become a hallowed asylum, —But a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over unto both houses of Israel A trap and a snare to the dweller in 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 many, shall stumble among them, —and fall and be torn, and snared, and captured.

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

16 Bind thou up the testimony, —Seal the instruction amongst my disciples.

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

17 I will therefore long for Yahweh, Who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, —And will wait, 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 Lo! I and the children whom Yahweh hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel, —from Yahweh of hosts, who is making his habitation in Mount Zion.

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 But, when they say unto you—Seek ye unto the necromancers and unto the wizards, who chirp, and who mutter, Should not a people seek, unto its God? In behalf of the living, [should it seek] unto 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 and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, [It is], because they have no dawning day.

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

21 Therefore shall they pass through it hard pressed and hungry, —And it shall be when they hunger, then will they rage and revile their king and their god and turn their faces 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 unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!

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.