Open English Translation ISA Chapter 8

8 Then Yahweh told me, “Get yourself a large, stone tablet and inscribe the name ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ (which means ‘Quickly plunder and grab the loot’) on it, 2 and I’ll get my reliable witnesses to attest for me: the priest Uriyah, and Yeverekyah’s son Zekaryah.

3 Then I slept with my wife, the prophetess, and she got pregnant and in due course, gave birth to a son. Yahweh told me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, 4 because before he’s old enough to call out ‘papa’ or ‘mama’, the riches from Damascus and the plunder from Shomron (Samaria) will all be taken to be presented to the Assyrian king.

5 Then Yahweh continued to speak to me again, saying, 6 “Yehudah has refused the gentle waters of Shiloah and instead requests help from King Retsin and Remalyah’s son King Pekah, 7 so therefore my master will send the waters of a large, powerful river onto them: the Assyrian king and all his majestic power. It’ll come like a flood filling all the channels then overflowing all its banks. 8 It will sweep across Yehudah, flooding yet moving on until it reaches your neck. It’s edges will cover your entire country, Immanuel.”

9 Raise the war cry, peoples, and be terrified,

and listen, all you distant places in the world.

Prepare yourselves for war and to be shattered.

Prepare yourselves for war and to be shattered.

10 Make whatever plans you want, but they’ll come to nothing.

Give a presentation but it won’t stand, because God is with us.

11 Yes, Yahweh spoke strongly to me, and warned me not to behave like other people, saying, 12 “Don’t say ‘conspiracy’ everyone time that other people do, and don’t be afraid when they’re afraid, and don’t live in dread.[ref] 13 Only honour army commander Yahweh, and be concerned about him and fear him. 14 He’ll be like your safe retreat. He’ll be both the stone that strikes and the rock that makes both Yisrael and Yehudah stumble, and like a trap for the inhabitants of Yerushalem.[ref] 15 Many people will stumble over that stone and that rock and fall and be broken, or be snared and captured.”

16 Tie up this report and seal up these instructions for my apprentices. 17 I’ll wait for Yahweh to act. He’s distanced himself from Yakov’s descendants, but I’ll continue to expect his help.[ref]

18 Both I myself, and the children that Yahweh has given me, are like directions and warning signs for Yisrael, that come from army commander Yahweh who lives on Mt. Tsiyyon (Zion).[ref]

19 When they tell you all to consult mediums and fortunetellers who chirp and mutter, shouldn’t the people consult their god rather than the dead guiding the living?

20 Shouldn’t it be the written instructions that they talk about? If they’re not following this message, dawn will never arrive for them, 21 and they’ll be distressed and hungry as they pass it by. Then because they’re hungry and angry, they’ll curse their king and their god as they look upwards. 22 They’ll look back to the ground, and wow, only see trouble and darkness—gloom, distress, and thick darkness thrusting out at them.