Isaiah 8:19-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 Now if people say to you, “Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living,(A) 20 for teaching and for instruction?” surely those who speak like this will have no dawn!(B) 21 They will pass through the land,[a] greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse[b] their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upward,(C) 22 or they will look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness.[c](D)
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Isaiah 8:19-22
Common English Bible
19 If they say to you: “Consult the ghosts and the spirits that chirp and mutter. (Shouldn’t a people consult its gods?) Consult the dead on behalf of the living 20 for instruction and for testimony”—they will surely say such things, but they will never see the dawn.[a]
21 They will pass through the land,[b] dejected and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and God. They will turn toward heaven 22 and look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, random movement, and the anguish and doom of banishment.[c]
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- Isaiah 8:20 Heb uncertain for 8:19-20
- Isaiah 8:21 Or it
- Isaiah 8:22 Heb uncertain for 8:21-22
Isaiah 8:19-22
New International Version
The Darkness Turns to Light
19 When someone tells you to consult(A) mediums and spiritists,(B) who whisper and mutter,(C) should not a people inquire(D) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(E) and the testimony of warning.(F) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(G) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(H) they will roam through the land;(I) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(J) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(K) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(L)
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