Isaiah, 8

1. Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

1. The Lord said to me, "Take a large cylindrical seal and write on it in ordinary characters: Quick to plunder-Booty is Close.

2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

2. Do this before Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah my reliable witness."

3. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

3. I went to my wife; she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then Yahweh said to me, "Call him Quick to plunder-Booty is Close, for this is Yahweh's word:

4. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

4. Before the child knows how to say "father" or "mother", the wealth of Damascus and the booty of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

5. The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,

5. Again Yahweh spoke to me:

6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

6. "Because this people refuses the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, and cowers in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

7. Now 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 he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

7. therefore the Lord will bring against them the waters of the River, deep and mighty - the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will rise over all its channels and overflow all its banks;

8. And he shall pass through Judah; 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 land, O Immanuel.

8. it will sweep on to Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching up to the neck. It will spread its wings over the whole breadth of your land, O Immanuel!

9. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

9. Know it, O you nations. Hear, O you distant lands; gird yourselves for war and be dismayed!

10. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God [is] with us.

10. Devise a plan and it will be thwarted, make a resolve and it will not stand, for God-is-with-us.

11. For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

11. Thus Yahweh spoke to me when his hand grasped me and he warned me not to walk in the way of these people:

12. Say ye not, A confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

12. "Do not speak of conspiracy whenever these people dread conspiracy; do not fear what they fear nor be in dread.

13. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.

13. Only Yahweh Sabaoth must you hold in veneration, only him must you fear, only him must you dread.

14. And 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.

14. He will be a sanctuary and at the same time a stumbling-stone, the rock that brings down, for both houses of Israel. He will be like trap and snare for the people of Jerusalem.

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

15. Many of them will stumble, many will fall and be broken, be trapped and captured."

16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

16. Yahweh added: "Bind this testimony and seal it in the midst of my disciples."

17. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

17. So I will wait for Yahweh who hides his face from the people of Jacob. I will hope in him.

18. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

18. Here am I and the children he has given me. We are signs and portents in Israel from Yahweh Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

19. Should people tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, you must say to them: "A people, of course, must consult its gods! On behalf of the living, will you consult the dead?"

20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

20. This is what is said through the law and revelations: this word will not fade away.

21. And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

21. Distressed and famished, they will roam the land. In their hunger they will fume and curse their God and their king. They will look upward,

22. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.

22. and then look towards the earth, but they will only find distress and darkness, and frightening gloom.

23.

23. Yet, where there was but anguish, darkness will disappear. He has just afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the future he will confer glory on the way of the sea, on the land beyond the Jordan - the pagans' Galilee.