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 Jehovah said to me, Take thee a great tablet, and with a man's writing-instrument write on it, Hasteth-the-prey, Speedeth-the-spoil.

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

And I took with me faithful witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.

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.

I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then said Jehovah to me, Call his name, Hasteth-the-prey, Speedeth-the-spoil.

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 child shall learn to say, My father, and My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be borne away before the king of Assyria.

5 And again Yahweh spake unto me yet further saying:

Moreover, Jehovah spake 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 this people despiseth The soft-flowing waters of Siloah, And rejoiceth 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;

Therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the strong and mighty waters of the river; [[The king of Assyria and all his glory.]] He shall rise above all his channels, And go over all his 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 he shall pass through Judah, overflowing and spreading; Even to the neck shall he reach, And his stretched-out wings shall fill the whole breadth of thy 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:

Rage, ye nations, and despair! Give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth! Gird yourselves, and despair! Gird yourselves, and despair!

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

Form your plan, and it shall come to naught; Give the command, and it shall not stand; 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 thus spake Jehovah 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:

Call not everything a confederacy which this people calleth a confederacy; Fear ye not what they fear, Neither be afraid!

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

Jehovah of hosts, sanctify ye him; Let him be your fear, and let him be 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 shall be to you a sanctuary; But a stone of stumbling, and a rock to strike against, To the two houses of Israel, A trap and 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 shall stumble; They shall fall, and be broken; They shall be ensnared and taken.

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

Bind up the revelation, Seal the word, with 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, therefore, wait for Jehovah, Who now hideth his face from the house of Jacob; Yet will I look 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 which Jehovah hath given me, Are signs and tokens in Israel From Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth upon 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 shall say to you, “Inquire of the necromancers and the wizards, That chirp, and that murmur,” [[Then say ye, ]] “Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead for 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 word, to the revelation! If they speak not according to this, For them no bright morning shall arise.

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 shall pass through the land distressed and famished; And when they are famished, they shall be enraged, and curse their king and their God, And look upward.

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

And if they look to the earth, Behold distress and darkness, fearful darkness! And into darkness shall they be driven.