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Isaiah’s testimonies

The Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it in ordinary letters,[a] For Maher-shalal-hash-baz.[b] Summon trusted people, Uriah the priest and Zechariah, Jeberechiah’s son, to witness it.”

I then had sex with the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before the boy knows how to say ‘my father’ and ‘my mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

The Lord spoke again to me: Since this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and instead rejoices over[c] Rezin and Remaliah’s son— therefore, look, the Lord is raising up against them the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates, the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will rise up over all its channels, overflowing all its banks, and sweep into Judah, flooding, overflowing, and reaching up to the neck. But God is with us;[d] the span of his wings will cover the width of the land.

Unite[e] yourselves, peoples, and be shattered!
    Listen, all distant places of the earth!
Prepare to be shattered!
    Prepare to be shattered!
10 Create a plan, but be frustrated!
    Speak a word, but it won’t stand, for God is with us.[f]

11 The Lord spoke to me, taking hold of me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people: 12 Don’t call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. Don’t fear what they fear, and don’t be terrified. 13 It is the Lord of heavenly forces whom you should hold sacred, whom you should fear, and whom you should hold in awe.

14 God will become a sanctuary—
    but he will be a stone to trip over and a rock to stumble on for the two houses of Israel;
    a trap and a snare for those living in Jerusalem.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall,
    and be broken, snared, and captured.

16 Bind up the testimony; seal up the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in God. 18 Look! I and the children the Lord gave me are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of heavenly forces, who lives on Mount Zion.

19 If they say to you: “Consult the ghosts and the spirits that chirp and mutter. (Shouldn’t a people consult its gods?) Consult the dead on behalf of the living 20 for instruction and for testimony”—they will surely say such things, but they will never see the dawn.[g]

21 They will pass through the land,[h] dejected and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and God. They will turn toward heaven 22 and look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, random movement, and the anguish and doom of banishment.[i]

A great light

[j] Nonetheless, those who were in distress won’t be exhausted. At an earlier time, God cursed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but later he glorified the way of the sea, the far side of the Jordan, and the Galilee of the nations.[k]

[l] The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
    On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.
You have made the nation great;
    you have increased its joy.
They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest,
    as those who divide plunder rejoice.
As on the day of Midian, you’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them,
    the staff on their shoulders,
    and the rod of their oppressor.
Because every boot of the thundering warriors,
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned, fuel for the fire.
A child is born to us, a son is given to us,
    and authority will be on his shoulders.
    He will be named
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be vast authority and endless peace
    for David’s throne and for his kingdom,
    establishing and sustaining it
    with justice and righteousness
    now and forever.

The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces will do this.

God’s hand still stretched out

The Lord sent a word against Jacob;
    it fell upon Israel;
    the people all knew it—
    Ephraim and the one who rules in Samaria.
But with a proud and arrogant heart they said,
10     “Bricks have fallen,
        but let’s rebuild with stones.
    Sycamores were cut down,
        but let’s replace them with cedars.”
11 So the Lord raised up their foes against them,[m]
    and stirred up their enemies—
12     Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west—
    and they devoured Israel with an open mouth.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
    God’s hand was still extended.

13 But the people didn’t turn to the one who struck them.
    They didn’t seek the Lord of heavenly forces.
14 So the Lord cut off head and tail,
    palm branch and reed from Israel in one day.
15     (Elders and celebrities are the head;
    prophets who teach lies are the tail.)
16 But this people’s leaders were misleading,
    and those being led were confused.
17 So the Lord showed their youth no pity,
    and showed their orphans and widows no mercy;
    for everyone was godless and evil;
        every mouth spoke nonsense.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
    God’s hand was still extended.

18 Wickedness burned like fire,
    devouring thorn and thistle.
It kindled the thickets of the forest;
    they swirled in rising smoke.
19 The land was scorched by the rage of the Lord of heavenly forces;
    the people were like fuel for the fire.
Not one person pitied another:
20     they consumed on the right, but remained hungry;
    devoured on the left, and weren’t satisfied.
    They devoured the flesh of their own children.[n]
21 Manasseh devoured Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh;
    together they turned against Judah.
Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away;
    God’s hand was still extended.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:1 Heb uncertain
  2. Isaiah 8:1 Or spoil hastens, plunder hurries
  3. Isaiah 8:6 Or melts before
  4. Isaiah 8:8 Heb Immanuel
  5. Isaiah 8:9 Heb uncertain
  6. Isaiah 8:10 Heb Immanuel
  7. Isaiah 8:20 Heb uncertain for 8:19-20
  8. Isaiah 8:21 Or it
  9. Isaiah 8:22 Heb uncertain for 8:21-22
  10. Isaiah 9:1 8:23 in Heb
  11. Isaiah 9:1 Heb uncertain
  12. Isaiah 9:2 9:1 in Heb
  13. Isaiah 9:11 Or the enemies of Rezin
  14. Isaiah 9:20 Or arm

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