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.'
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 cause faithful witnesses to testify to me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.
I will need Uriah the priest and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah, to be my trustworthy witnesses.”
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,
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 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 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 And Jehovah addeth to speak unto me again, saying:
Then the Lord spoke to me 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 has rejected the waters of Shiloah that gently flow and instead have rejoiced with Rezin and Remaliah's son,
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.
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 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!
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 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.
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, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it doth not stand, Because of Emmanu-El!'
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 thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me with strength of hand, and instructeth me against walking 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 '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.
Don't call a conspiracy everything that these people call a conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't be overawed!
13 Jehovah of Hosts — Him ye do sanctify, And He [is] your Fear, and He your 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 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.
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 And many among them have stumbled and fallen, And been broken, and snared, and captured.
Many people will stumble over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.
16 Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among My disciples.
Safeguard this testimony, seal these instructions—they are for my disciples.
17 And I have waited for Jehovah, Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, And I have looked for 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 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.
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 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!
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 To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, 'That there is no dawn to it.'
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 — 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.
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 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!
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.
