Isaiah 8 New King James Version

Assyria Will Invade the Land

8 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and ^(A)write on it with a man’s pen concerning ^[a]Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ²And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, ^(B)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; ⁴^(C)for before the child ^[b]shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ ^(D)the riches of Damascus and the ^[c]spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:

⁶“Inasmuch as these people refused
The waters of ^(E)Shiloah that flow softly,
And rejoice ^(F)in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
The waters of ^[d]the River, strong and mighty—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
He will ^[e]go up over all his channels
And go over all his banks.
⁸He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
^(G)He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will ^[f]fill the breadth of Your land, O ^(H)Immanuel.^[g]

⁹“Be^(I) shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
¹⁰^(J)Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, ^(K)but it will not stand,
^(L)For ^[h]God is with us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with ^[i]a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

¹²“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their ^[j]threats, nor be ^[k]troubled.
¹³The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
¹⁴^(M)He will be as a ^[l]sanctuary,
But ^(N)a stone of stumbling and a rock of ^[m]offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
¹⁵And many among them shall ^(O)stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and ^[n]taken.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples.
¹⁷And I will wait on the Lord,
Who ^(P)hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I ^(Q)will hope in Him.
¹⁸^(R)Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!
We ^(S)are for signs and wonders in Israel
From the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹And when they say to you, ^(T)“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, ^(U)who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they ^(V)seek the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰^(W)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(X)there^[o] is no light in them.

²¹They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and ^(Y)curse ^[p]their king and their God, and look upward. ²²Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.