Isaiah 8

Damascus and Samaria Fall

1Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and 1write on it 2in ordinary letters: 34Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. 2And 5I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, 6Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him 78Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4for 9before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of 10Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,6“Inasmuch as these people have 11rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in 12Rezin and the son of Remaliah;7Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the 13strong and abundant waters of the 1415Euphrates, Even the 16king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will 17rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.8Then 18it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will 19reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will 20fill the breadth of 21your land, O 22Immanuel.

A Believing Remnant

9“23Be broken, O peoples, and be 2425shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be 26shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be 27shattered.1028Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a 29proposal, but 30it will not stand, For 3132God is with us.”

11For thus the Lord spoke to me 33with 34mighty power and instructed me 35not to walk in the way of this people, saying,12“You are not to say, ‘It is a 36conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And 37you are not to fear 38what they fear or be in dread of it.13It is the 39Lord of hosts 40whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.14Then He shall become a 41sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a 42stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a 43trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.15Many 44will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.”

1645Bind up the testimony, 46seal the 47law among 48my disciples. 17And I will 49wait for the Lord 50who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 1851Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for 52signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who 53dwells on Mount Zion.

19When they say to you, “54Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people 55consult their God? Should they 56consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the 5758law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because 59they have no dawn. 21They will pass through 60the land 61hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse 62their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will 63look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be 64driven away into darkness.