Isaiah 8
King James Version
8 Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
4 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.
5 The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,
6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7 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:
8 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.
9 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.
Isaiah 8
Expanded Bible
Assyria Will Come Soon
8 The Lord told me, “Take a large ·scroll [or tablet] and write on it with ·an ordinary pen [or ordinary letters/script; L the stylus of a man]: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz [C “quick to the plunder; swift to the spoil”].’ 2 ·I will call [or So I called; or Call…!] some men to be reliable witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
3 Then I ·went to [C euphemism for sexual relations] the prophetess, and she became ·pregnant [conceived] and had a son. The Lord told me, “Name the boy Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz [v. 1], 4 because the king of Assyria will ·take away [carry off] the wealth of Damascus and the ·possessions [spoil; plunder] of Samaria before the boy learns to say ‘my father’ or ‘my mother’ [C about age two; the first stage of the destruction, which culminated in 722 bc; see 7:15–16].”
5 Again the Lord spoke to me, saying,
6 “[L Because] These people refuse to accept
the ·slow-moving [gently flowing] waters of the pool of Shiloah [C probably the stream flowing from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam (John 9:7); God’s gentle influence is contrasted with the “flood” of the Assyrian invasion; v. 7]
and ·are terrified of [or rejoice over] Rezin
and the son of Remaliah [C Pekah; 7:1, 4–5].
7 So ·I, the Lord, [L look/behold, the Lord] will bring against them
a powerful flood of water from the ·Euphrates River [L River]—
the king of Assyria and all his ·power [glory].
·The Assyrians will be like water rising [L It will rise] over ·the banks of the river [its channels],
flowing over ·the land [its banks].
8 That water will ·flow [sweep] into Judah and pass through it,
rising to ·Judah’s throat [L the neck].
·This army [L It] will spread its wings like a bird
until it covers ·your whole country [the breadth of our land], ·Immanuel [or God is with us].”
9 ·Be broken [or You will be broken], all you nations,
and [L you will] be ·smashed to pieces [shattered].
Listen, all you faraway ·countries [lands].
·Prepare for battle [T Gird yourselves] and [you will] be ·smashed to pieces [shattered]!
·Prepare for battle [T Gird yourselves] and [you will] be ·smashed to pieces [shattered]!
10 ·Make your plans for the fight [Devise your strategy],
but ·they will be defeated [it will be thwarted].
·Give orders to your armies [L Speak a command/word],
but ·they will be useless [L it will not stand],
because ·God is with us [L Immanuel].
Warnings to Isaiah
11 [L For] The Lord spoke to me with his ·great power [L strong hand] and warned me not to ·follow the lead [L walk in the way] of ·the rest of the [L this] people. He said,
12 “·People are saying that others make plans against them,
but you should not believe them [L Don’t call ‘conspiracy’ everything this people calls ‘conspiracy’].
Don’t be afraid of what they fear;
do not dread those things.
13 But remember that the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] is holy.
He is ·the one you should [L your] fear;
he is ·the one you should [L your] dread.
14 Then he will be a ·place of safety for you [sanctuary; holy place; or snare].
·But [or And] for the two ·families [houses] of Israel [C Israel and Judah],
he will be like a stone that causes people to stumble,
like a rock that makes them fall [Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6–8].
He will be like a trap for the ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem,
and he will catch them in his ·trap [snare].
15 Many people will ·fall over this rock [L stumble over them].
They will fall and be broken;
they will be ·trapped [snared] and caught.”
16 ·Make an agreement [or Preserve this prophecy; L Bind up this testimony].
Seal up the teaching ·while my followers are watching [or and entrust it to my followers/disciples; L among my followers/disciples].
17 I will ·wait for [patiently trust] the Lord [C for his help],
the Lord who is ·ashamed of [L hiding his face from] the ·family of Israel [L house of Jacob].
I will ·wait for [hope in; trust in] him.
18 ·I am here, and with me are [L Look/T Behold, I and] the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and ·proofs [symbols; warnings; omens] for the people of Israel from the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], who ·lives [dwells] on Mount Zion.
19 Some people say, “Ask the mediums and ·fortune-tellers [necromancers; spiritists], who ·whisper [or chirp] and mutter [C using incantations to call up spirits; 1 Sam. 28:8–11], what to do.” ·But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead? [or “Should not a nation consult their gods, asking the dead on behalf of the living?”; C in this interpretation the quotation continues to the end of the verse]. 20 ·You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord [L (Look) to the law/instruction and to the testimony]. ·The mediums and fortune-tellers do not [L Those who do not; or If they do not] speak ·the word of the Lord [L according to this word], ·so their words are worth nothing [or they are spiritually blinded; L they have no dawn].
21 ·People will wander through the land [L They will pass through] ·troubled [or destitute] and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry and will look up and curse their king and their God. 22 They will look around them at their land and see only ·trouble [distress], darkness, and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.
Isaiah 8
The Message
8 Then God told me, “Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, ‘This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).’”
2-3 I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.
3-4 God told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”
* * *
5-8 God spoke to me again, saying:
“Because this people has turned its back
on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah
And gotten all excited over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
I’m stepping in and facing them with
the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,
The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,
a river in flood, bursting its banks,
Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,
water up to your necks,
A huge wingspan of a raging river,
O Immanuel, spreading across your land.”
* * *
9-10 But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.
Listen, all of you, far and near.
Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.
Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.
All your talk is mere talk, empty words,
Because when all is said and done,
the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.
A Boulder Blocking Your Way
11-15 God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
“Don’t be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t take on their worries.
If you’re going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it.”
* * *
16-18 Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.
19-22 When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?”
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson