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".]

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.”

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

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

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 draw near to the prophetess, and she conceives, and bears a son; and YHWH says to me, “Call his name 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 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.”

5 And again Yahweh spake unto me yet further saying:

And YHWH adds to speak to me again, saying,

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

“Because that this people has refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with 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;

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.

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!

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!

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:

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.

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

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

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

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:

“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.

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

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

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 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.

15 And many, shall stumble among them, —and fall and be torn, and snared, and captured.

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

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

Bind up the testimony, 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.

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

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.

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?

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?

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 not, let them say after this manner, “That there is no dawn to it.”

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;

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.

22 And unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!

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!