Isaiah 8
8 1And Jehovah said unto me, Take thee a great tablet, and write upon
it with the pen of a man, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
2and I will take
unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son
of Jeberechiah.
3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and
bare a son. Then said Jehovah unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
4For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My
mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away
before the king of Assyria.
5And Jehovah spake unto me yet again, saying,
6Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go
softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7now therefore, behold,
the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the River, strong and many,
even the king of Assyria and all his glory: and it shall come up over
all its channels, and go over all its banks;
8and it shall sweep onward
into Judah; it shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the
neck; and the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land,
O Immanuel.
9Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and be broken in pieces; and
give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces;
gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces.
10Take counsel together, and it
shall be brought to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God
is with us.
11For Jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand, and
instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12Say ye
not, A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people shall say, A
conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread thereof.
13Jehovah of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and
let him be your dread.
14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone
of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a
gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15And many shall
stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17And
I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I
will look for him.
18Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given
me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who
dwelleth in mount Zion.
19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto
them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that
mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living
should they seek unto the dead?
20To the law and to the
testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no
morning for them.
21And they shall pass through it, sore distressed and
hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall
fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their
faces upward:
22and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress
and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall
be driven away.