Isaiah 8

Modern

Literal

Assyrian Invasion Prophesied

¹Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary^a stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.^b

¹And YHWH said to me, “Take for yourself a large scroll and write on it with a pen of man: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

²And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

²And I will appoint for Myself faithful witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

³And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

³And I came near to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And YHWH said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz—

⁴For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

⁴for before the child knows to cry, ‘My father and My mother,’ one will lift away the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria before the face of the king of Assyria!”

⁵And the LORD spoke to me further:

⁵And YHWH continued to speak to me again, saying,

⁶“Because this people has rejected

the gently flowing waters of Shiloah

and rejoiced in Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,

⁶“Because that this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah, those going gently, and are rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

⁷the Lord will surely bring against them

the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—^a

the king of Assyria and all his pomp.

It will overflow its channels

and overrun its banks.

⁷therefore, behold! The Lord is bringing up over them the waters of the River mighty and great—the king of Assyria and all his glory—and it will go up over all its channels and it will go over all its banks,

⁸It will pour into Judah,

swirling and sweeping over it,

reaching up to the neck;

its spreading streams will cover

your entire land, O Immanuel!^a

⁸and it will pass on into Judah, overflowing and passing over—reaching to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings and is the fullness of the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!

⁹Huddle together,^a O peoples, and be shattered;

pay attention, all you distant lands;

prepare for battle, and be shattered;

prepare for battle, and be shattered!

⁹Join together, O peoples, and be shattered! And give ear, all you distant lands—Gird yourselves and be shattered, gird yourselves and be shattered!

¹⁰Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;

state a proposal, but it will not happen.

For God is with us.”^a

¹⁰Take counsel—counsel—and it will be broken; speak a word; it will not stand, for God is with us.

A Call to Fear God

¹¹For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

¹¹For thus YHWH spoke to me, with a strong hand, and He admonished me from walking in the way of this people, saying:

¹²“Do not call conspiracy

everything these people regard as conspiracy.

Do not fear what they fear;^a

do not live in dread.^b

¹²“You shall not say conspiracy to everything that this people says is conspiracy; and its fear you should not fear, and you should not dread.

¹³The LORD of Hosts is the One

you shall regard as holy.

Only He should be feared;

only He should be dreaded.

¹³YHWH of Hosts—Him You shall sanctify, and He is your Fear, and He is your Dread.

¹⁴And He will be a sanctuary—

but to both houses of Israel

a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,^a

to the dwellers of Jerusalem

a trap and a snare.

¹⁴And He be for a sanctuary, and for a stone of striking and for a rock of falling for the two houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare for those dwelling in Jerusalem!

¹⁵Many will stumble over these;

they will fall and be broken;

they will be ensnared and captured.”

¹⁵And many will stumble over them, and they will fall and be broken and be snared and captured.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony

and seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁶Bind up the testimony, and seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷I will wait for the LORD,

who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.

I will put my trust in Him.^a

¹⁷And I will wait for YHWH, the One hiding His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him.

¹⁸Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me^a as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

¹⁸Here am I and the children whom YHWH has given to me as signs and as wonders in Israel, from YHWH of Hosts, the One dwelling on Mount Zion.

Darkness and Light

¹⁹When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

¹⁹And when they say to you, “Seek after the spirits and after the spiritists who whisper and mutter—” a people should not seek after its gods, on behalf of the living unto the dead,

²⁰To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

²⁰to the law and to the testimony?" If they do not speak this according to the word, it is because there is not in them dawn.

²¹They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

²¹And he will pass over into it hard pressed and hungry, and it will be that when he is hungry and becomes angry, that he will think little of his king and of his gods, and he will turn upward,

²²Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

²²and will look to the earth, and behold—distress and darkness, gloom of anguish, and he will be driven away into the dark.