The Lord of Armies, the Only Refuge

11 For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep[a] me from going the way of this people:(A)

12 Do not call everything a conspiracy
that these people say is a conspiracy.(B)
Do not fear what they fear;(C)
do not be terrified.
13 You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy.(D)
Only he should be feared;(E)
only he should be held in awe.
14 He will be a sanctuary;(F)
but for the two houses of Israel,
he will be a stone(G) to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,(H)
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over these;(I)
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.

16 Bind up the testimony.(J)
Seal up the instruction(K) among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the Lord,(L)
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.(M)
I will wait for him.

18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me(N) to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 8:11 DSS; MT reads instruct

The Lord Encourages Isaiah

11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me quite forcefully.[a] He warned me not to act like these people:[b]

12 “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word.[c]
Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.
13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[d]
He is the one you must respect;
he is the one you must fear.[e]
14 He will become a sanctuary,[f]
but a stone that makes a person trip,
and a rock that makes one stumble—
to the two houses of Israel.[g]
He will become[h] a trap and a snare
to the residents of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over the stone and the rock,[i]
and will fall and be seriously injured,
and will be ensnared and captured.”
16 Tie up the scroll as legal evidence,[j]
seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers.[k]
17 I will wait patiently for the Lord,
who has rejected the family of Jacob;[l]
I will wait for him.
18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me[m] are reminders and object lessons[n] in Israel, sent from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:11 tc The MT reads כ (kaf, “according to”), but many manuscripts read the more grammatical ב (bet, “with”).tn Heb “with strength of hand/power.”
  2. Isaiah 8:11 tc Heb “he warned me against (or “from”) walking in the way of these people, saying.” Some want to change the pointing of the suffix and thereby emend the Qal imperfect וְיִסְּרֵנִי (veyissereni, “he was warning me”) to the more common Piel perfect יִסְּרַנִי (yisserani, “he warned me”). Others follow the lead of the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and read יְסִירֵנִי (yesireni, “he was turning me aside,” a Hiphil imperfect from סוּר, sur). None of these are expected syntax. When a perfect verb is followed by a vav plus imperfect (an uncommon construction), the latter represents a contrasting shift to the future (Ps 91:14; Mal 1:4) or a modal clause, such as a purpose (Isa 41:26; Job 23:3; 41:3; Song 6:1). Otherwise the vav plus imperfect is proposed to be a preterite, often with support from the versions (Isa 41:5; 42:6). While a simple vav plus perfect might be considered, it is more likely that the vav should be repointed and the form read as a preterite (and most likely as Piel since the only two Qal finite forms are both text critical issues).
  3. Isaiah 8:12 tn Heb “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ regarding everything about which these people say, ‘Conspiracy.’” The verb translated “do not say” is second masculine plural, indicating that this exhortation is directed to Isaiah and other followers of the Lord (see v. 16).sn The background of this command is uncertain. Perhaps the “conspiracy” in view is the alliance between Israel and Syria. Some of the people may even have thought that individuals in Judah were plotting with Israel and Syria to overthrow the king.
  4. Isaiah 8:13 tn Heb “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.
  5. Isaiah 8:13 tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear; he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yareʾ) and עָרַץ (ʿarats) are repeated from v. 12b.
  6. Isaiah 8:14 tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) probably needs to be emended to an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).
  7. Isaiah 8:14 sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
  8. Isaiah 8:14 tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vehayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.
  9. Isaiah 8:15 tn Heb “over them” (so NASB); NCV “over this rock.”
  10. Isaiah 8:16 tn Heb “tie up [the] testimony.” The “testimony” probably refers to the prophetic messages God has given him. When the prophecies are fulfilled, he will be able to produce this official, written record to confirm the authenticity of his ministry and to prove to the people that God is sovereign over events.
  11. Isaiah 8:16 tn Heb “seal [the] instruction among my followers.” The “instruction” probably refers to the prophet’s exhortations and warnings. When the people are judged for the sins, the prophet can produce these earlier messages and essentially say, “I told you so.” In this way he can authenticate his ministry and impress upon the people the reality of God’s authority over them.
  12. Isaiah 8:17 tn Heb “who hides his face from the house of Jacob.”
  13. Isaiah 8:18 sn This refers to Shear Jashub (7:3) and Maher Shalal Hash Baz (8:1, 3).
  14. Isaiah 8:18 tn Or “signs and portents” (NAB, NRSV). The names of all three individuals has symbolic value. Isaiah’s name (which meant “the Lord delivers”) was a reminder that the Lord was the nation’s only source of protection; Shear Jashub’s name was meant, at least originally, to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), and Maher Shalal Hash Baz’s name was a guarantee that God would defeat Israel and Syria (see the note at 8:4). The word מוֹפֶת (mofet, “portent”) can often refer to some miraculous event, but in 20:3 it is used, along with its synonym אוֹת (ʾot, “sign”) of Isaiah’s walking around half-naked as an object lesson of what would soon happen to the Egyptians.