UST ISA Chapter 8

◄ ISA 8 ► ║ ═ ©

8 Then Yahweh told me, “Get a large tablet and write on it in big letters, ‘For Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ ” 2 I asked two trustworthy men to serve as witnesses that I had written on the tablet at this time, Uriah the high priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

3 Then I has sexual relations with my wife, the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then Yahweh told me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, 4 because before this boy is old enough to say ‘papa’ or ‘mama,’ the king of Assyria will come and take away all the valuable things in the cities of Damascus and Samaria.”

5 Yahweh spoke to me again and said, 6 “These people should have trusted me, even though I work in ways that are hard to recognize, like the water that flows quietly through the Shiloah canal into Jerusalem. Instead, many of them are glad that King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel have invaded Judah to try to force the Judeans to join them in opposing Assyria. So I am going to do something in response. 7 Because they have not trusted me, I, the Lord, will allow the army of the king of Assyria to invade Judah. That army is large and powerful, like the waters of the Euphrates River, So many soldiers will come that it will be as if that river had flooded and overflowed all of its banks. 8 It will be as if that flood had swept into Judah and covered the land so that only people’s heads were above water. Just as an eagle spreads out its wings, this army will spread out over the country in which Immanuel will be living.

9 Listen, all you people in distant countries!

Go ahead and shout your war cries and prepare for battle,

but Yahweh will shatter you!

10 Go ahead and make your plans to attack,

but God will make those plans fail!

Say what you want to say,

but nothing you plan will succeed,

because God will help us!

11 I say this because Yahweh spoke to me very strongly and warned me not to act like other people in Judah. He said this to me:

12 “Do not believe that secret plots are happening just because people say they are.

Do not be afraid at all of the things that those people are so afraid of.

13 Instead, you should have a special regard for me,

Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies.

You should be most concerned about respecting me and not offending me.

14 I will keep you safe.

However, for the people of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah,

including the people who live in Jerusalem,

I will be like a stone that they trip over

and like a trap that catches them.

15 It will be as if many of those people trip over that stone

and fall and never get up again.

It will be as if that trap catches them

when their enemies capture them and take them away.”

16 So I, Isaiah, want someone to keep a record of what God has said to me.

Preserve his instructions and give them to my disciples.

17 I will wait to see what Yahweh will do.

Even though he has stopped favoring the descendants of Jacob,

I will trust him confidently.

18 Listen, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are warning signs for the people of Israel.

Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, who is present in his temple on Mount Zion, is using us for that purpose.

19 Some people say that we should try to contact people who have died or talk to spirits to find out what to do. But they just mumble things in squeaky voices. Yahweh is the God of the Judeans, and they should ask him what to do. It makes no sense for people who are alive to ask dead people to tell them what to do! 20 Pay attention to the instructions that God has given by speaking to me! If people urge us to do something different, they cannot expect good things to happen for them. 21 Those people will wander through the land, destitute and hungry. When they become very hungry, they will become very angry. They will curse their king and their God. They will look all around, up at the sky 22 and around on the earth, but they will see only distressing, gloomy things that make them feel hopeless. Finally, their enemies will take them away to a place where they will have great trouble.