Isaiah and His Children as Signs

The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll(A) and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”[a](B) So I called in Uriah(C) the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses(D) for me. Then I made love to the prophetess,(E) and she conceived and gave birth to a son.(F) And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.(G) For before the boy knows(H) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus(I) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.(J)

The Lord spoke to me again:

“Because this people has rejected(K)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah(L)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,(M)
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters(N) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria(O) with all his pomp.(P)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks(Q)
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,(R)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings(S) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel[b]!”(T)

Raise the war cry,[c](U) you nations, and be shattered!(V)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare(W) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(X)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,(Y)
    for God is with us.[d](Z)

11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,(AA) warning me not to follow(AB) the way of this people:

12 “Do not call conspiracy(AC)
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,(AD)
    and do not dread it.(AE)
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,(AF)
    he is the one you are to fear,(AG)
    he is the one you are to dread.(AH)
14 He will be a holy place;(AI)
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone(AJ) that causes people to stumble(AK)
    and a rock that makes them fall.(AL)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.(AM)
15 Many of them will stumble;(AN)
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

16 Bind up this testimony of warning(AO)
    and seal(AP) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait(AQ) for the Lord,
    who is hiding(AR) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.(AS)

18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.(AT) We are signs(AU) and symbols(AV) in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.(AW)

The Darkness Turns to Light

19 When someone tells you to consult(AX) mediums and spiritists,(AY) who whisper and mutter,(AZ) should not a people inquire(BA) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(BB) and the testimony of warning.(BC) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(BD) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(BE) they will roam through the land;(BF) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(BG) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(BH) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(BI)

[e]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom(BJ) for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,(BK) but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness(BL)
    have seen a great light;(BM)
on those living in the land of deep darkness(BN)
    a light has dawned.(BO)
You have enlarged the nation(BP)
    and increased their joy;(BQ)
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.(BR)
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,(BS)
    you have shattered(BT)
the yoke(BU) that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,(BV)
    the rod of their oppressor.(BW)
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,(BX)
    will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,(BY)
    to us a son is given,(BZ)
    and the government(CA) will be on his shoulders.(CB)
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor,(CC) Mighty God,(CD)
    Everlasting(CE) Father,(CF) Prince of Peace.(CG)
Of the greatness of his government(CH) and peace(CI)
    there will be no end.(CJ)
He will reign(CK) on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice(CL) and righteousness(CM)
    from that time on and forever.(CN)
The zeal(CO) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil; also in verse 3.
  2. Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
  3. Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
  4. Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel
  5. Isaiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-21 is numbered 9:1-20.

Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.