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預言災難快到

耶和華對我說:“你拿一塊大版,用通用的文字寫上‘瑪黑珥.沙拉勒.哈施.罷斯’(“瑪黑珥.沙拉勒.哈施.罷斯”意即“趕快擄掠,急速奪取”)。 我要叫兩個誠實的見證人,就是烏利亞祭司和耶比利家的兒子撒迦利亞,來為我作見證。” 我親近了女先知,就是我妻子,她就懷孕生子。耶和華對我說:“給他起名叫‘瑪黑珥.沙拉勒.哈施.罷斯’, 因為在這孩子曉得喊叫父母以先,大馬士革的財寶和撒瑪利亞的擄物,必在亞述王面前被搬了去。”

亞述入侵

耶和華又再告訴我說:

“這子民既然厭棄了西羅亞緩流的水,

卻喜悅利汛和利瑪利的兒子,

因此,主必使大河又強又大的水臨到他們,

就是亞述王和他一切威榮,

水必漲起來,高過所有的水道;水要氾濫,漫過所有的河岸;

然後必沖入猶大,漲溢氾濫,

直到頸項,

以馬內利啊!它展開的翅膀必遮遍你廣闊的地土。”

列國之民啊!你們儘管作惡,但你們終必毀滅!

所有在遠處的人民啊,要留心聽!

你們儘管束腰吧,你們終必毀滅!

你們儘管束腰吧,你們終必毀滅!

10 你們儘管計劃陰謀吧,這些終必失敗;

你們儘管提議吧,這些終必不能成立,

因為 神與我們同在。

當遠離偶像與邪術

11 耶和華以大能的手托住我,教導我不要走這子民所走的道路;他對我這樣說:

12 “這子民所稱為陰謀的,你們都不要稱為陰謀;

他們所怕的,你們不要怕,也不要畏懼。

13 你們要尊萬軍之耶和華為聖,

他是你們當怕的,

也是你們當畏懼的。

14 他必向信靠他的人作聖所,

卻向以色列兩家作絆腳的石頭、跌人的磐石;

又向耶路撒冷的居民作陷阱和網羅。

15 許多人必在其上絆跌、仆倒、跌碎,

並且陷入網羅被捉住。”

16 你要捲起律法書,在我的門徒中間封住訓誨。 17 我要等候那掩面不顧雅各家的耶和華,我要仰視他。 18 看哪!我和耶和華賜給我的孩子,在以色列中作預兆與奇蹟,都是從住在錫安山的萬軍之耶和華來的。

19 有人對你們說:“要求問那些交鬼的和行巫術的,就是那些喃喃細語的人。”一族之民不應當求問自己的 神嗎?他們怎能為活人求問死人呢? 20 他們應當求問 神的訓誨和法度;他們若不照著這些準則說話,就見不到曙光。 21 他們必經過這地,受困迫、受飢餓;他們飢餓的時候,就惱怒,咒罵自己的王和自己的 神; 22 他們仰臉向天觀望,又俯視大地,只見困苦、黑暗、可怕的幽暗;他們必被趕入幽黑的黑暗中。

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)

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

The Eternal told me to take a large tablet and write—“Swift the Spoils of War and Speedy Comes the Attacker”— and to get believable witnesses, both the priest Uriah and Zechariah (Jeberechiah’s son), to watch me do it. 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); 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.”

The Eternal One explained to me,

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.
    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.
    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.

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.

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.