Isa 8 | NASB1995 | STEP | Then the Lord said to me, “ Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters : Swift is the booty , speedy is the prey .

Isaiah 8

Damascus and Samaria Fall

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and ^awrite on it ^{▼▼ Lit with the stylus of man}in ordinary letters: ^{▼▼ Heb Maher-shalal-hash-baz
,} ^dSwift is the booty, speedy is the prey. 2 “And ^{▼▼ Another reading is take for me}I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^fUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him ^{▼▼ I.e. swift is the booty, speedy is the prey
,} ^hMaher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for ⁱbefore the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of ^jDamascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5 Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying, 6 “Inasmuch as these people have ^krejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in ^lRezin and the son of Remaliah;
7 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ^mstrong and abundant waters of the ^{▼▼ Lit River
,} ^oEuphrates,
Even the ^pking of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will ^qrise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.
8 “Then ^rit will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
It will ^sreach even to the neck;
And the spread of its wings will ^{▼▼ Lit be the fullness of}fill the breadth of ^{▼▼ Or Your}your land, O ^vImmanuel.

A Believing Remnant

9 ^w“Be broken, O peoples, and be ^{▼▼ Or dismayed
,} ^yshattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be ^{▼▼ Or dismayed}shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be ^{▼▼ Or dismayed}shattered.
10 ^ab“Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
State a ^{▼▼ Lit word}proposal, but ^adit will not stand,
For ^{▼▼ Heb Immanu-el
,} ^afGod is with us.”

11 For thus the Lord spoke to me ^{▼▼ Lit with strength of the hand}with ^ahmighty power and instructed me ^ainot to walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a ^ajconspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And ^akyou are not to fear ^{▼▼ Lit their fear}what they fear or be in dread of it.
13 “It is the ^amLord of hosts ^anwhom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
14 “Then He shall become a ^aosanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a ^apstone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a ^aqtrap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 “Many ^arwill stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”

16 ^asBind up the testimony, ^atseal the ^{▼▼ Or teaching}law among ^avmy disciples. 17 And I will ^awwait for the Lord ^axwho is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 18 ^ayBehold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for ^azsigns and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who ^badwells on Mount Zion.

19 When they say to you, ^bb“Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people ^bcconsult their God? Should they ^bd consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the ^{▼▼ Or teaching
,} ^bflaw and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^bgthey have no dawn. 21 They will pass through ^{▼▼ Lit it}the land ^bihard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse ^{▼▼ Or by their king}their king and their God as they face upward. 22 Then they will ^bklook to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^bldriven away into darkness.