Add parallel Print Page Options

Moreover Hashem said unto me, Take thee a gillayon gadol (great slab), and write on it with cheret enosh concerning Maher Shalal Chash Baz (The Spoil Speeds, the Booty Hastens [i.e., the coming Assyrian defeat of Syria and Israel is imminent and the life of this son of Isaiah is a prophetic time line. See verse 4 below]).

And I took unto me edim ne’emanim (faithful witnesses) to record, Uriyah the kohen, and Zecharyah ben Yeverechyahu.

And I went unto the neviah; and she conceived, and bore ben. Then said Hashem to me, Call shmo Maher Shalal Chash Baz.

For before the na’ar shall have da’as to cry, Avi, or Immi, the chayil Damascus and the spoil of Shomron shall be carried off before Melech Ashur.

Hashem spoke also unto me again, saying,

Forasmuch as HaAm HaZeh refuseth the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and delight in [alliance with] Retzin and Ben Remalyahu;

Now therefore, hinei, Adonoi bringeth up upon them the waters of the River, strong and many, even Melech Ashur, and all his kavod; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks;

And he shall swirl into Yehudah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of Thy eretz, O Immanu-El.

Exasperate yourselves, O ye Amim (Nations), and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Consult etzah (counsel, plan), and it shall come to naught; speak the davar, and it shall not stand; for Immanu El (G-d is with us).

11 For Hashem hath spoken thus to me with chezkat haYad, and instructed me that I should not walk in the Derech HaAm HaZeh, saying,

12 Call ye not Kesher (Conspiracy) all that this people calls kesher; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread.

13 Regard Hashem Tzva’os as kadosh; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.

14 And He shall be for a Mikdash; but for an Even Negef (Stone of Stumbling) and for a Tzur Michshol to both the Batei Yisroel, for a pach (snare) and for a mokesh (trap) to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

15 And rabbim (many) among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16 Bind up [to preserve for the future] the te’udah (testimony, i.e. prophetic record such as chapter 6), chatom (seal up) the torah (teaching) among my disciples.

17 And I will wait for Hashem, that hideth His face from the Bais Ya’akov, and I will look [in hope] for Him.

18 Hinei, I and the yeladim whom Hashem hath given me are for otot and for mofetim [see Zecharyah 3:8] in Yisroel from Hashem Tzva’os, which dwelleth in Mt Tziyon.

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto mediums that have familiar spirits, and unto spiritists that whisper, and that mutter: should not Am seek unto Elohav? Should they consult the mesim (dead ones) for the benefit of the chayyim (living)?

20 To the torah (teaching of G-d) and to the te’udah (recorded testimony, see verse 16); if they speak not according to Davar HaZeh, it is because there is no shachar (dawn, light) in them.

21 And they [i.e., the unbelievers, contrasted with those in v.13] shall roam about therein, hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their melech and Elohav, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto eretz; and, hinei, tzarah and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Isaiah and His Children as Signs

The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll(A) and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”[a](B) So I called in Uriah(C) the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses(D) for me. Then I made love to the prophetess,(E) and she conceived and gave birth to a son.(F) And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.(G) For before the boy knows(H) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus(I) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.(J)

The Lord spoke to me again:

“Because this people has rejected(K)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah(L)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,(M)
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters(N) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria(O) with all his pomp.(P)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks(Q)
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,(R)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings(S) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel[b]!”(T)

Raise the war cry,[c](U) you nations, and be shattered!(V)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare(W) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(X)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,(Y)
    for God is with us.[d](Z)

11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,(AA) warning me not to follow(AB) the way of this people:

12 “Do not call conspiracy(AC)
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,(AD)
    and do not dread it.(AE)
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,(AF)
    he is the one you are to fear,(AG)
    he is the one you are to dread.(AH)
14 He will be a holy place;(AI)
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone(AJ) that causes people to stumble(AK)
    and a rock that makes them fall.(AL)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.(AM)
15 Many of them will stumble;(AN)
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

16 Bind up this testimony of warning(AO)
    and seal(AP) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait(AQ) for the Lord,
    who is hiding(AR) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.(AS)

18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.(AT) We are signs(AU) and symbols(AV) in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.(AW)

The Darkness Turns to Light

19 When someone tells you to consult(AX) mediums and spiritists,(AY) who whisper and mutter,(AZ) should not a people inquire(BA) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(BB) and the testimony of warning.(BC) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(BD) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(BE) they will roam through the land;(BF) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(BG) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(BH) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(BI)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil; also in verse 3.
  2. Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
  3. Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
  4. Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel