Isaiah 8

1 And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Take to thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a graving tool of man, To haste spoil, enjoy prey.'

And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a volume of a great new [book], and write in it with a man's pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.

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

And make me witnesses [of] faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.

3 And I draw near unto the prophetess, and she conceiveth, and beareth a son; and Jehovah saith unto me, 'Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

And I went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.

4 for before the youth doth know to cry, My father, and My mother, one taketh away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.'

For before the child shall know [how] to call [his] father or [his] mother, [one] shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.

5 And Jehovah addeth to speak unto me again, saying:

And the Lord spoke to me yet again, [saying],

6 'Because that this people hath refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

Because this people chooses not the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wills to have Rassin, and the son of Romelias [to be] king over you;

7 Therefore, lo, 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 hath gone up over all its streams, And hath gone on over all its banks.

therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, [even] the king of the Assyrians, and his glory: and he shall come up over every valley of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours:

8 And it hath passed on into Judah, It hath overflown and passed over, Unto the neck it cometh, And the stretching out of its wings Hath been the fulness of the breadth of thy land, O Emmanu-El!

and he shall take away from Juda [every] man who shall be able to lift up his head, [and every one] able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall fill the breadth of thy land, [O] God with us.

9 Be friends, O nations, and be broken, And give ear, all ye far off ones of earth, Gird yourselves, and be broken, Gird yourselves, and be broken.

Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered.

10 Take counsel, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it doth not stand, Because of Emmanu-El!'

And whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us.

11 For thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me with strength of hand, and instructeth me against walking in the way of this people, saying,

Thus saith the Lord, With a strong hand they revolt from the course of the way of this people, saying,

12 'Ye do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people saith, A confederacy, And its fear ye do not fear, Nor declare fearful.

Let them not say, [It is] hard, for whatsoever this people says, is hard: but fear not ye their fear, neither be dismayed.

13 Jehovah of Hosts — Him ye do sanctify, And He [is] your Fear, and He your Dread,

Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear.

14 And He hath been for a sanctuary, And for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, To the two houses of Israel, For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And if thou shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come against [him] as against a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit.

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

Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely.

16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among My disciples.

Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.

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

And [one] shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.

18 Lo, I, and the children whom Jehovah hath given to me, [Are] for signs and for wonders in Israel, From Jehovah of Hosts, who is dwelling in Mount Zion.

Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be [for] signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion.

19 And when they say unto you, 'Seek unto those having familiar spirits, And unto wizards, who chatter and mutter, Doth not a people seek unto its God? — For the living unto the dead!

And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning the living?

20 To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, 'That there is no dawn to it.'

For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.

21 — And it hath passed over into it, hardened and hungry, And it hath come to pass, That it is hungry, and hath been wroth, And made light of its king, and of its God, And hath looked upwards.

And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, [that] when ye shall be hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above,

22 And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! — Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that [one cannot] see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.