The Coming Assyrian Invasion

Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment[a] and write on it with an ordinary pen:[b](A) Maher-shalal-hash-baz.[c] I have appointed[d] trustworthy witnesses—the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”(B)

I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, for before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’(C) the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”(D)

The Lord spoke to me again:

Because these people rejected
the slowly flowing water of Shiloah
and rejoiced with[e] Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,(E)
the Lord will certainly bring against them
the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River—
the king of Assyria and all his glory.
It will overflow its channels
and spill over all its banks.
It will pour into Judah,
flood over it, and sweep through,
reaching up to the neck;(F)
and its flooded banks[f]
will fill your entire land, Immanuel!(G)

Band together,[g] peoples, and be broken;
pay attention, all you distant lands;
prepare for war, and be broken;
prepare for war, and be broken.
10 Devise a plan; it will fail.(H)
Make a prediction; it will not happen.
For God is with us.[h](I)

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Footnotes

  1. 8:1 Hb obscure
  2. 8:1 Lit with the pen of a man
  3. 8:1 = Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil
  4. 8:2 Vg; MT, one DSS ms read I will appoint; one DSS ms, LXX, Syr, Tg read Appoint
  5. 8:6 Or and rejoiced over
  6. 8:8 Lit its outspread wings
  7. 8:9 Or Raise the war cry, or Be shattered
  8. 8:10 Hb Immanuel

Signs of the Assyrian Invasion

Then Yahweh said to me, “Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a common stylus pen: Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahweh said to me, “Call his name Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. For before the boy knows to call ‘my father’ and ‘my mother,’ one will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.”

Shiloah Waters and Euphrates Flood

And Yahweh continued to speak to me again, saying,

“Because this people has refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore look! The Lord is bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory.

And he will rise above all his channels,
    and he will flow over all his banks.
And he will sweep into Judah;
    he will overflow and he will flood up to the neck.
He will reach, and he will spread his wings out over your entire land,[a] God with us.”
Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed.
    And listen, all distant parts of the earth;
gird yourselves and be dismayed;
    gird yourselves and be dismayed!
10 Make a plan,[b] but it will be frustrated!
    Speak a word, but it will not stand,
        for God is with us!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:8 Literally “the outspreading of his wings will be the fullness of the breadth of your land”
  2. Isaiah 8:10 Literally “Plan counsel”