Isaiah 8

1
Then the LORD said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet [for public display] and write on it in ordinary characters: Belonging to [1]Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
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And I will get faithful witnesses to attest [to this prophecy] for me, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."
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So I approached [my wife] the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz [to remind the people of the prophecy];
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for before the boy knows how to say, 'My father' or 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus (Aram's capital) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel's capital) [2]will be carried away by the king of Assyria."
5
Again the LORD spoke to me, saying,
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"Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of [3]Shiloah And rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah's son [Pekah the king of Israel],
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Now therefore, listen carefully, the Lord is about to bring on them the waters of the [Euphrates] River, strong and abundant— The king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise over all its channels and canals and go far beyond its banks.
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"Then it will [4]sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through [the hills], Reaching even to the neck [of which Jerusalem is the head], And its outstretched wings (the armies of Assyria) will fill the width of Your land, O Immanuel.
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"Be broken [in pieces], O peoples, and be shattered! Listen, all you [our enemies from the] far countries. Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered; Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered.
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"Take counsel together [against Judah], but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us (Immanuel)."
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For in this way the LORD spoke to me with His strong hand [upon me] and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people [behaving as they do], saying,
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"You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.
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"It is the LORD of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome. He shall be your [source of] fear, He shall be your [source of] dread [not man].
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"Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him]; But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip, A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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"Many [among them] will stumble over them; Then they will fall and be broken, They will even be snared and trapped."
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Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah's) disciples.
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And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will look eagerly for Him.
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Listen carefully, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are [5]for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
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When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, "Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
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[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.
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They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward.
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Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.