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: 34Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 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 spoils 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 14Euphrates River, That is, the 15king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will 16rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.8Then 17it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will 18reach as far as the neck; And the spread of its wings will 19fill the expanse of 20your land, 21Immanuel.

A Believing Remnant

9“22Be broken, you peoples, and be 2324shattered; And listen, all remote places of the earth. 25Get ready, yet be 26shattered; 27Get ready, yet be 28shattered.1029Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a 30proposal, but 31it will not stand, For 3233God is with us.”

11For so the Lord spoke to me 34with 35mighty power and instructed me 36not to walk in the way of this people, saying,12“You are not to say, ‘It is a 37conspiracy!’ Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, And 38you are not to fear 39what they fear or be in dread of it.13It is the 40Lord of armies 41whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.14Then He will become a 42sanctuary; But to both houses of Israel, He will be a 43stone of stumbling and a rock 44of offense, And a snare and a 45trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.15Many 46will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will be snared and caught.”

1647Bind up the testimony, 48seal the 49Law among 50my disciples. 17And I will 51wait for the Lord 52who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him. 1853Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for 54signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of armies, who 55dwells on Mount Zion.

19When they say to you, “56Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should a people not 57consult their God? Should they 58consult the dead in behalf of the living? 20To the 5960Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because 61they have no dawn. 21They will pass through 62the land 63dejected and hungry, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will become enraged and curse 64their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will 65look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be 66driven away into darkness.