Isaiah 8
1 And the Lord said to me, Take to
thyself a volume of a great new
aAlex. paper, or, parchment.book, and write in it with a man's pen concerning
the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.
2 And make me witnesses
of faithful men, Urias, and Zacharias the son of
Barachias. 3 And I went in to the
prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call
his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.
4 For before the child shall know
how to call his father or
his mother, one shall take
the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the
Assyrians.
5 And the Lord spoke to me yet again,
saying,
6 Because this people chooses not the
water of Siloam that goes softly, but wills to have Rassin, and the son of
Romelias to be king over you;
7 therefore, behold, the Lord brings
up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant,
even the king of the Assyrians, and his glory: and he
shall come up over every valley of yours, and shall walk over every wall of
yours: 8 and he shall take away from
Juda every man who shall be able to lift up his head,
and every one able to accomplish anything; and his
camp shall fill the breadth of thy land,
O
bHeb. Immanuel.God with us.
9 Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered;
hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye have
strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye
shall again be conquered. 10 And
whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and
whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with
us. 11 Thus saith the Lord, With a
strong hand they
cGr. disobey.revolt from the course of the way of this people, saying,
12 Let them not say,
It is hard, for whatsoever this people says, is hard:
but fear not ye their fear, neither be dismayed.
13 Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and
dOr, let him be.he shall be thy fear. 14 And if thou
shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come
against him as against
eRom. 9. 33.
a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of
Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit.
15 Therefore many among them shall be
weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be
taken securely. 16 Then shall those
who seal themselves that they may
fAlex. — 'not.'not learn the law be made manifest.
17 And
one shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned
away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.
18 gHeb. 2. 13.
Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be
for signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the
Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion.
19 And if they should say to you,
Seek
hGr. ventriloquists.those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the
earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a
nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning
the living? 20 For he has given the
law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning
which there are no
iSee Heb.gifts to give for it.
21 And famine shall come sorely upon
you, and it shall come to pass, that when ye shall be
hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your
fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above,
22 and they shall look on the earth
below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and
jOr, a strait.anguish, and darkness so that one cannot see; and he
that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.
23 Drink this first.
kOr, do it quickly, i. e. ‘drink’; See Hebrew.Act quickly,
lMat. 4. 15,16.
O land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest
inhabiting the sea-coast, and
the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.