Isaiah Chapter 8
Assyria’s Coming Invasion
1 Then the LORD told me, “Take a large tablet and etch on it in standard letters ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz’ [quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil].” 2 I got reputable men to witness it: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah. 3 So I had relations with my wife the prophetess, and she had a son. The LORD told me,
“Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 because before he knows how to say ‘daddy’ or ‘mommy,’ the king of Assyria will ‘carry away the wealth’ in Damascus and ‘the spoil’ in Samaria.”
5 The LORD spoke to me again,
6 “These people have rejected the water at Shiloah that flows gently and admire Rezin and Remaliah’s son. 7 So I’ll flood them with the powerful, abundant ‘water’ of the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its banks, 8 surge into Judah, flood it, and wash on through. It will get neck deep over your whole land, Immanuel.
Is 8:1-8
9 “Be broken, nations, and terrified;
listen, distant lands;
gird up, but you’ll be crushed;
gird up, but you’ll be crushed.
10 Devise a battle plan, it’ll be thwarted;
develop a strategy, it won’t stand,
because ‘God is with us’ [Immanuel].”
Is 8:9-10
Trust the LORD
11 The LORD warned me strictly not to think the way this country thinks:
12 “Don’t suppose everything’s a conspiracy that they do or fear everything they fear or dread what they dread. 13 Fear the LORD of Hosts, the One you consider holy. 14 He’ll be your sanctuary. To both houses of Israel, he’ll be a stone to stub your toe on, a rock to trip over, a snare and a trap for the people in Jerusalem. 15 Many will trip on it, fall, and shatter. They’ll be caught in a snare.”
16 Preserve the testimony; entrust the teaching to my disciples. 17 I’ll wait for the LORD that’s turned away from Jacob’s descendants. I’ll diligently depend on him. 18 I and the children the LORD has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who lives on Mount Zion.
Is 8:11-18
19 If they tell you to consult mediums and wizards that chirp and mutter, shouldn’t they consult their God instead? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Instead, go to God’s teaching, go to his testimony! If what they say doesn’t agree with that, it’s because they’re not going to see a new dawn. 21 They’ll pass through the land, distressed and hungry. They’ll get mad and curse their king and their God. They’ll look up to the sky 22 and down at the earth at distress and darkness, at the despair that comes from anguish. Then they’ll be thrust into deep darkness.
Is 8:19-22