Isaiah 8
1599 Geneva Bible
8 1 The captivity of Israel and Judah by the Assyrians. 6 The infidelity of the Jews. 9 The destruction of the Assyrians. 14 Christ the stone of stumbling to the wicked. 19 The word of God must be inquired at.
1 Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a [a]great roll, and write it [b]with a man’s pen, Make speed to the spoil: haste to the prey.
2 Then I took unto me [c]faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the Priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
3 After, I came unto the [d]Prophetess, which conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name, [e]Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
4 For before the [f]child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, he shall take away the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, before the [g]King of Assyria.
5 ¶ And the Lord spake yet again unto me, saying,
6 Because this people hath refused the waters of [h]Shiloah that run softly, and rejoice with Rezin, and the son of Remaliah,
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of [i]the River mighty and great, even the King of Assyria with all his glory, and he shall come up upon all their rivers, and go over all their banks,
8 And shall break into Judah, and shall overflow, and pass through, and shall come up to the [j]neck, and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O [k]Immanuel.
9 Gather together on heaps, O ye [l]people, and ye shall be broken in pieces, and hearken all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, yet, it shall be brought to naught: pronounce a decree, yet shall it not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the Lord spake thus to me, in taking [m]of mine hand, and taught me, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Say ye not, A [n]confederacy, to all them to whom this people saith a confederacy, neither fear you [o]their fear, nor be afraid of them.
13 [p]Sanctify the Lord of hosts, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread,
14 And he shall be as a [q]Sanctuary: but as a stumbling stone, and as a rock to fall upon, to both the houses of Israel, and as a snare and as a net to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and shall fall, and shall be broken, and shall be snared, and shall be taken,
16 [r]Bind up the testimony: seal up the Law among my disciples.
17 Therefore I will wait upon the Lord that hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the [s]children whom the Lord hath given me, are as signs and as wonders in Israel, [t]by the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Inquire at them that have a spirit of divination, and at the soothsayers which whisper and murmur, [u]Should not a people inquire at their God? from the [v]living to the dead?
20 To the [w]Law, and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word: it is because there is no [x]light in them.
21 Then he that is afflicted and famished, shall go to and fro in [y]it: and when he shall be hungry, he shall even fret himself, [z]and curse his king and his gods, and shall look upward.
22 And when he shall look to the earth, behold trouble, and [aa]darkness, vexation, and anguish, and he is driven to darkness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:1 That thou mayest write in great letters, to the intent it may be more easily read.
- Isaiah 8:1 Meaning, after the common fashion, because all men might read it.
- Isaiah 8:2 Because the thing was of great importance, he took these two witnesses, which were of credit with the people, when he set this up upon the door of the Temple, albeit Uriah was a flattering hypocrite, 2 Kings 16:11.
- Isaiah 8:3 Meaning, to his wife, and this was done in a vision.
- Isaiah 8:3 Or, make speed to the spoil: haste to the prey.
- Isaiah 8:4 Before any child be able to speak.
- Isaiah 8:4 That is, the army of Assyria.
- Isaiah 8:6 Which was a fountain at the foot of mount Zion, out of the which ran a small river through the city: meaning, that they of Judah, distrusting their own power, which was small, desired such power and riches as they saw in Syria and Israel.
- Isaiah 8:7 That is, the Assyrians which dwell beyond Euphrates.
- Isaiah 8:8 It shall be ready to drown them.
- Isaiah 8:8 He speaketh this to Messiah, or Christ, in whom the faithful were comforted, and who would not suffer his Church to be destroyed utterly.
- Isaiah 8:9 To wit, ye that are enemies to the Church, as the Assyrians, Egyptians, Syrians, etc.
- Isaiah 8:11 To encourage me that I should not shrink for the infidelity of this people, and so neglect mine office.
- Isaiah 8:12 Consent not ye that are godly, to the league and friendship that this people seek with strangers and idolaters.
- Isaiah 8:12 Meaning, that they should not fear the thing that they feared, which have no hope in God.
- Isaiah 8:13 In putting your trust only in him, in calling upon him in adversity, patiently looking for his help, and fearing to do anything contrary to his will.
- Isaiah 8:14 He will defend you which are his elect, and reject all the rest, which is meant of Christ, against whom the Jews should stumble and fall, Luke 2:34; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:7, 8.
- Isaiah 8:16 Though all forsake me, yet ye that are mine, keep my word sure sealed in your hearts.
- Isaiah 8:18 Meaning, them that were willing to hear and obey the word of God, whom the world hated, as though they were monsters and not worthy to live.
- Isaiah 8:18 This was a consolation in their troubles, knowing that nothing could come unto them, but by the will of the Lord.
- Isaiah 8:19 Answer the wicked thus, Should not God’s people seek succor only at him?
- Isaiah 8:19 This is, will they refuse to be taught of the Prophet, who is the mouth of God, and seek help at the dead, which is the illusion of Satan?
- Isaiah 8:20 Seek remedy in the word of God, where his will is declared.
- Isaiah 8:20 They have no knowledge, but are blind leaders of the blind.
- Isaiah 8:21 That is, in Judah, where they should have had rest, if they had not thus grievously offended God.
- Isaiah 8:21 In whom afore they put their trust.
- Isaiah 8:22 They shall think that heaven and earth and all creatures are bent against them to trouble them.
Isaiah 8
The Voice
8 The Eternal told me to take a large tablet and write—“Swift the Spoils of War and Speedy Comes the Attacker”— 2 and to get believable witnesses, both the priest Uriah and Zechariah (Jeberechiah’s son), to watch me do it. 3 I approached the prophetess—a woman who, like me, speaks for God—and she became pregnant and had a son, whom the Eternal said I should name Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Swift-the-Spoils-of-War-and-Speedy-Comes-the-Attacker); 4 because before he is old enough to say “My father” or “My mother” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carted off to become the property of their enemy, the king of Assyria.
Prophets like Isaiah not only speak their messages, but they sometimes act them out. Isaiah is a master of both prophetic speech and prophetic acts. It is common for God to ask prophets to expose important aspects of their families’ lives to demonstrate a message He wants to convey. Perhaps it is because the prophet speaks for God and Israel is God’s family. In this case, God tells Isaiah to embed His message into the name of his child. And what is that message? “Ahaz, the two countries currently threatening you will soon be conquered by a greater power—Assyria. It will attack quickly, defeat soundly, and carry off the spoils of war from Damascus and Samaria. So there is no need to fear them; instead, trust in your God.”
5 The Eternal One explained to me,
6 Eternal One: This disaster will happen because this people have rejected the stream of Shiloah
that flows gently to Zion.
Instead they rejoice over Rezin and Remaliah’s son.
7 Just watch—the Lord will overwhelm them
with great waves of the Euphrates River.
Like a river, Assyrian might and glory will bear down on them;
it will rise over its banks as unstoppable as a raging flood.
8 This Mesopotamian power will pour into Judah, rise and pass through,
wreaking near-fatal havoc.
And its reach will extend over all your land.
God, be with us.
9 Go ahead, make your alliances, you peoples, yet you’ll be crushed.
Listen closely, even if you’re far away:
Get ready for battle—get ready to be battered;
get ready for battle—get ready to be shattered.
10 Go ahead, devise your plans, but they will fail;
your proclamations won’t matter because God is with us.
No one wants to believe that God would use foreign power to wreak destruction on other lands and peoples. Yet, as God is holy, so God’s place must be holy. He simply cannot dwell where holiness is not. He cannot make a larger-than-life Zion out of an earthly Jerusalem, unless that place (and its people, of course) are right. At best, these people seem to think that paying lip service to God is enough; at worst, they don’t even care about God. A simple explanation is the people must be clean and holy. And this condition of rightness, holiness, and cleanliness is a product of how they are—in relation not only to God, but also to each other and the very land itself; these things are inseparable. The consequences of their failure to ensure the holiness of this sacred place by being right with God, land, and others are dire indeed. God must cleanse His people and place because He determines to be represented within and by them. So, better days will come again, and His covenant people will be set right and be happy and prosperous again.
11 See, this is what the Eternal told me. God leaned in close—His strong hand on me—to keep me from following these people.
12 Eternal One: Don’t call for an alliance, like all the rest of this people do.
Don’t fear what they fear, or dread what they dread.
13 After all, only the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, should terrify you.
Only God is holy. Only God should leave you trembling.
14 Look what I’m going to do in Zion:
The Eternal will be for you a sacred place,
But for both houses of Israel I’ll also be a stone that blocks their way
and a rock that trips them up;
For those who live in Jerusalem, I’ll be a trap and a snare.
15 Many will stumble over them. They will trip and be broken;
they’ll succumb to capture and be grabbed up.
God who provides a place of safety and security for those who trust in Him is the same God who puts obstacles in the way of those who disregard Him.
16 Now take care to keep this message as it is.
Seal up this teaching
and hand it over to my disciples.
17 As for me, I will wait for the Eternal, even though He feels absent, even though He has hidden His face from the family of Jacob. I will put all hope in Him. 18 You see, I and my children whom the Eternal One gave to me, we personify the promise. We are signs of what God intends and will do in Israel, what amazing things the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has in mind, the One who is indeed present in Zion, this heaven on earth.
19 People might tell you to ask the fortune-tellers, consult the babbling astrologers, conjure the dead to tell the living what’s to come, but shouldn’t they ask their God? 20 Go to God’s teaching and His testimony to guide your thoughts and behavior! If any response disagrees with the word of God, then it’s muddling and wrong and not the least bit illuminating. 21 It leaves the people bedraggled and desperate, drifting here and there. In their hunger, the people are bound to be infuriated and curse their king and God. They’ll look up to the heavens 22 and down to the earth, yet see nothing but trouble, gloom, anguish, and darkness. They will be driven out into the darkness.
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.