Isaiah, 8

1. Yahweh said to me, 'Take a large tablet and on it with an ordinary stylus write, "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz".

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

2. And take reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.'

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

3. I then had intercourse with the prophetess, who then conceived and gave birth to a son. Yahweh said to me, 'Call him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,

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

4. for before the child knows how to say "mother" or "father", the wealth of Damascus and the booty of Samaria will be carried away while the king of Assyria looks on.'

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.

5. Yahweh spoke to me again and said,

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

6. 'Since this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah which flow smoothly, and has trembled before Razon and the son of Remaliah,

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

7. now, against it, the Lord will bring the mighty, swelling waters of the River (the king of Assyria and all his glory); the River will flood up all its channels and overflow all its banks;

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:

8. it will flow into Judah, flooding everything and passing on; it will reach right up to the neck, and the spreading of its wings will cover the whole extent of your country, Immanuel!

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.

9. Realise this, peoples, and be afraid, listen, all members of far-off nations! Arm yourselves yet be afraid! Arm yourselves yet be afraid!

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.

10. Devise plans as you may: they will come to nothing! Make what pronouncements you like; it will not come about! For God is with us!'

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

11. For this was how Yahweh spoke to me when his hand seized hold of me and he taught me not to follow the path of this people, saying,

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,

12. 'Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy; do not dread what they dread, have no fear of that.

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.

13. Yahweh Sabaoth is the one you will proclaim holy, him you will dread, him you will fear.

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

14. He will be a sanctuary, a stumbling-stone, a rock to trip up the two Houses of Israel; a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

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.

15. over which many of them will stumble, fall and be broken, be ensnared and made captive.

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

16. Bind up the testimony, seal the instruction in the heart of my disciples.'

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

17. My trust is in Yahweh who hides his face from the House of Jacob; I put my hope in him.

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

18. Look, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me shall become signs and portents in Israel on behalf of Yahweh Sabaoth who dwells on Mount Zion.

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.

19. And should people say to you, 'Go and consult ghosts and wizards that whisper and mutter' -- a people should certainly consult its gods and the dead on behalf of the living!

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?

20. As regards instruction and testimony, without doubt this is how they will talk, and hence there will be no dawn for them.

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.

21. Oppressed and starving he will wander the country; and, once starving, he will become frenzied and curse his king and his God; turning his gaze upward,

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.

22. then down to earth, there will be only anguish, gloom, the confusion of night, swirling darkness.

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

23. For is not everything dark as night for a country in distress? As the past humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, so the future will glorify the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, the territory of the nations.

23.