The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Isaiah 08
1 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet,
and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For
Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;†
2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and
Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said
to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash
Baz.’
4 For before the child knows how to say,
‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of
Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will
be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 “Because this people has refused the
waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice
in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings
upon them the mighty flood waters of the
River: the king of Assyria and all his glory.
It will come up over all its channels, and go
over all its banks.
8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will
overflow and pass through. It will reach
even to the neck. The stretching out of its
wings will fill the width of your land, O
Immanuel.
9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be
broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far
countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for
battle, and be shattered!
10 Take counsel together, and it will be
brought to nothing; speak the word, and it
will not stand, for God is with us.”
11 For Yahweh spoke this to me with a
strong hand, and instructed menotto walk
in the way of this people, saying,
12 “Don’t call a conspiracy all that this
people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their
threats or be terrorized.
13 Yahweh of Armies is who you must
respect as holy. He is the one you must
fear. He is the one you must dread.
14 He will be a sanctuary, but for both
houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling
stone and a rock that makes them fall. For
the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap
and a snare.
15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
16 Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law
among my disciples.
17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his
face fromthehouse ofJacob, andI willlook
for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for
wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies,
who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 When they tell you, “Consult with
those who have familiar spirits and with
the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,”
shouldn’t a people consult with their God?
Should they consult the dead on behalf of
the living?
20 Turn to the law and to the covenant!
If they don’t speak according to this word,
surely there is no morning for them.
21 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that
when they are hungry, they will worry,
and curse their king and their God. They
will turn their faces upward,
22 then look to the earth and see distress,
darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They
will be driven into thick darkness.