Isaiah 8
English Standard Version
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet (A)and write on it in common characters,[a] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’[b] 2 And (B)I will get reliable witnesses, (C)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, (D)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 (E)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the (F)wealth of (G)Damascus and the spoil of (H)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of (I)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over (J)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them (K)the waters of (L)the River,[c] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it (M)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, (N)reaching even to the neck, and its (O)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, (P)O Immanuel.”
9 Be broken,[d] you peoples, and (Q)be shattered;[e]
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, (R)but it will not stand,
for God (S)is with us.[f]
Fear God, Wait for the Lord
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and (T)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call (U)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and (V)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, (W)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a (X)sanctuary and (Y)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many (Z)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up (AA)the testimony; (AB)seal the teaching[g] among my disciples. 17 I will (AC)wait for the Lord, who is (AD)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 (AE)Behold, I and (AF)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the (AG)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of (AH)the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (AI)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no (AJ)dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,[h] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against[i] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 (AK)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into (AL)thick darkness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:1 Hebrew with a man's stylus
- Isaiah 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens
- Isaiah 8:7 That is, the Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:9 Or Be evil
- Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
- Isaiah 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel
- Isaiah 8:16 Or law; also verse 20
- Isaiah 8:21 Hebrew it
- Isaiah 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by
Isaiah 8
International Standard Version
Isaiah’s Son is Born
8 The Lord also told me, “Take a large tablet and write on it with a stylus[a] pen, ‘For Maher-shalal-hash-baz’.[b] 2 Then I will call[c] Uriah the priest and Jeberechiah’s son Zechariah as reliable witnesses to testify on my behalf.”
3 After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the Lord told me,[d] “Call him[e] ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz,’ 4 for before the young lad knows how to call out to his father or mother,[f] the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
Invasion by Assyria
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people have rejected the gently-flowing waters of Shiloah, and because[g] they keep rejoicing in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, 7 watch out! The Lord God[h] is about to bring the flood waters of the Euphrates[i] River against them, mighty and strong.[j]
“It’s the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river’s channels and run over all of its banks. 8 He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters[k] reaching up to a person’s neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!”
9 “Band together,[l] you peoples,
but be shattered!
Listen, all you distant countries!
Strap on your armor,
but be shattered.[m]
10 Take counsel together,
but it will all be for nothing;
go ahead and talk,
but[n] it will all be for nothing,[o]
for God is with us.”[p]
Waiting on God
11 For[q] this is what the Lord spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living:[r]
12 “Don’t call conspiracy everything
that this people calls conspiracy,
and don’t fear what they fear,
or live in terror.
13 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
he’s the one you are to regard as holy.
Let him be the one whom you fear,
and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!
14 Then he will be a sanctuary,
but for both houses of Israel
he’ll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself,
a rock one stumbles over,
a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble on them;
They’ll fall and be broken;
They’ll be snared and captured.
16 “Bind up the testimony,
and seal up the teaching among my disciples.
17 I’ll wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob,
and I’ll put my trust in him.
18 Watch out! I and the children
whom the Lord has given me
are a sign and a wonder[s] in Israel
from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
who resides on Mount Zion.”
Rejecting Occultic Wisdom
19 “So when they advise you,
‘Ask the mediums your questions,
and quiz the spiritists who chirp and mutter,’
shouldn’t a people instead be consulting their God—[t]
and not the dead—
on behalf of those who are living
20 for instruction and for testimony?
Surely they are speaking like this
because the truth[u] hasn’t dawned on them.
21 “They’ll pass through the land,[v]
while[w] greatly distressed and hungry.
When they are hungry,
they’ll become enraged,
and they’ll curse their king and their god.[x]
They’ll turn their faces upwards,
22 or they’ll look toward the[y] earth,
but they’ll see only distress and darkness,
the gloom that comes from anguish,
and then they’ll be thrown into total darkness.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:1 Or with an ordinary
- Isaiah 8:1 The Heb. name Maher-shalal-hash-baz means Hurry to the plunder, quick to the loot
- Isaiah 8:2 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads call in
- Isaiah 8:3 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsae lacks me
- Isaiah 8:3 Lit. Call his name
- Isaiah 8:4 So 1QIsaa; MT reads out ‘My father!’ or ‘My mother!’; LXX reads ‘Father!’ or ‘Mother!’
- Isaiah 8:6 1QIsaa MT lack because
- Isaiah 8:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads the Lord
- Isaiah 8:7 1QIsaa MT lack Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:7 So 4QIsaf MT LXX; 1QIsaa lacks mighty and strong
- Isaiah 8:8 DSS MT lack like flood waters
- Isaiah 8:9 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsae 4QIsaf LXX read Learn this; or Know this
- Isaiah 8:9 So 1QIsaa; MT adds a second strap on your armor but be shattered; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 8:10 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsae LXX lack but
- Isaiah 8:10 Lit. it won’t stand
- Isaiah 8:10 I.e. a word play on the name Immanuel; cf. 7:14, 8:8
- Isaiah 8:11 So 1QIsaa 4QIsae MT; 4QIsaf LXX Syr lack For
- Isaiah 8:11 Lit. not to walk in the way of this people
- Isaiah 8:18 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read are signs and wonders
- Isaiah 8:19 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads gods
- Isaiah 8:20 1QIsaa MT lack the truth
- Isaiah 8:21 Lit. through it
- Isaiah 8:21 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks while
- Isaiah 8:21 So 1QIsaa; MT reads gods; LXX reads idols
- Isaiah 8:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks the
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