Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Isaiah 8
The Sign of Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz
The LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it with an ordinary stylus: ‘For Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’” “I will call reliable witnesses for myself: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.” I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ Damascus’s wealth and Samaria’s plunder will be carried before the king of Assyria.”
The LORD spoke to me again:
“Because this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoices over Rezin and Remaliah’s son,
the Lord is bringing against them
the River’s mighty, surging waters—
the king of Assyria in all his glory.
It will rise over every channel
and overflow every bank.
It will sweep into Judah, flooding through,
reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings will fill your land’s breadth,
Immanuel.”
Rage, peoples, and be shattered!
Listen, all distant lands!
Prepare for battle—and be shattered!
Prepare for battle—and be shattered!
Devise a plan—it will be broken.
Speak a word—it will not stand,
for God is with us.
The LORD spoke to me with his hand strong upon me, warning me not to walk in this people’s way:
“Do not call everything a conspiracy
that this people calls a conspiracy.
Do not fear what they fear
or be terrified.
The LORD of hosts—regard him as holy.
Let him be your fear,
let him be your terror.
He will become a sanctuary,
yet a stone to strike against,
a rock to stumble over,
for both houses of Israel;
a trap and snare for Jerusalem’s inhabitants.
Many will stumble over them,
fall and break,
be snared and caught.”
Bind up the testimony;
seal the instruction among my disciples.
I will wait for the LORD,
who hides his face from the house of Jacob.
I will hope in him.
Here I am, with the children the LORD has given me, as signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
When they tell you, “Consult the mediums and spiritists who chirp and mutter,” should not a people consult its God? Should the dead be consulted for the living?
To the instruction and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there is no dawn for them.
They will pass through the land distressed and hungry. When hunger overtakes them, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward, then look toward the earth: distress and darkness, oppressive gloom! They will be driven into deep darkness.