English Standard Version

New Living Translation

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,a ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’b

1

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

Then the LORD said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.a”

2

And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

2

I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.

3

And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

3

Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4

for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

4

For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”

5

The Lord spoke to me again:

5

Then the LORD spoke to me again and said,

6

“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

6

“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen tob King Rezin and King Pekah.c

7

therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River,c mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,

7

Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates Riverd — the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels

8

and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

8

and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.

9

Be broken,d you peoples, and be shattered;e
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.

9

“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified.
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!

10

Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.f

10

Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless.
Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed.
For God is with us!e”

11

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:

11

A Call to Trust the LORD

The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,

12

“Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

12

“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.

13

But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

13

Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.

14

And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

14

He will keep you safe.
But to Israel and Judah
he will be a stone that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem
he will be a trap and a snare.

15

And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

15

Many will stumble and fall,
never to rise again.
They will be snared and captured.”

16

Bind up the testimony; seal the teachingg among my disciples.

16

Preserve the teaching of God;
entrust his instructions to those who follow me.

17

I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

17

I will wait for the LORD,
who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my hope in him.

18

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

18

I and the children the LORD has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the LORD of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.

19

And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?

19

Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?

20

To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

20

Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.

21

They will pass through the land,h greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously againsti their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.

21

They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven

22

And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

22

and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

Parallel

English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Isaiah 8

Isaiah 8