Isaiah 8

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

1 Then the Lord said to me, "Take a large tablet w and write on it in common characters, 1 'Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.' 2 2 And x I will get reliable witnesses, y Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me."

3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, z "Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 a for before the boy knows how to cry 'My father' or 'My mother,' the a wealth of b Damascus and the spoil of b Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 "Because this people has refused the waters of c Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over d Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them e the waters of f the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it g will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, h reaching even to the neck, and its i outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, j O Immanuel."

9 Be broken, 3 you peoples, and k be shattered; 4
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
 10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, l but it will not stand,
for God m is with us. 5

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and n warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 "Do not call o conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and p do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, q him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a r sanctuary and s a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many t shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."

16 Bind up u the testimony; v seal the teaching 6 among my disciples. 17 I will w wait for the Lord, who is x hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 y Behold, I and z the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, "Inquire of the a mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter," should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of b the dead on behalf of the living? 20 c To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no d dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, 7 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against 8 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 e And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into f thick darkness.

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:8
    And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:10
    You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
  3. Cross References
    2 Kings 16:10 - 11
    When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details.
    2 Kings 16:15 - 16
    And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, "On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.
  4. Cross References
    Hosea 1:4
    And the Lord said to him, "Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:16
    For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:16
    For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:8 - 9
    For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:8 - 9
    For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
  9. Cross References
    Nehemiah 3:15
    And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.
    John 9:7
    And said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
    John 9:11
    He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:1
    In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.
    Isaiah 7:4
    And say to him, 'Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:12 - 13
    Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:20
    In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River - with the king of Assyria - the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 46:8
    Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He said, 'I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:28
    His breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 36:1
    In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:14
    Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
  17. Cross References
    Daniel 2:34 - 35
    As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:7
    Thus says the Lord God : "'It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:8
    And it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.
    Romans 8:31
    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
  20. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:8
    "But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:2
    When the house of David was told, "Syria is in league with Ephraim," the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
  22. Cross References
    1 Peter 3:14 - 15
    But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.
  23. Cross References
    Numbers 20:12
    And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.
  24. Cross References
    Ezekiel 11:16
    Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God : Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.
  25. Cross References
    Romans 9:33
    As it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
    1 Peter 2:8
    And "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
    Isaiah 28:16
    Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:13
    And the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
    Matthew 21:44
    And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
    Luke 20:18
    Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:1 - 2
    Then the Lord said to me, "Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, 'Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
  28. Cross References
    Daniel 12:4
    But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.
  29. Cross References
    Psalms 27:14
    Wait for the Lord ; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
    Psalms 33:20
    Our soul waits for the Lord ; he is our help and our shield.
    Habakkuk 2:3
    For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
  30. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:15
    When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
    Isaiah 54:8
    In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the Lord, your Redeemer.
    Deuteronomy 31:17
    Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
  31. Cross References
    Hebrews 2:13
    And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Behold, I and the children God has given me.
  32. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:3
    And the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field.
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 19:3
    And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers.
    2 Kings 21:6
    And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
    2 Kings 23:24
    Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
    2 Chronicles 33:6
    And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
    Leviticus 19:31
    Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
  34. Cross References
    Psalms 106:28
    Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
    1 Samuel 28:11 - 14
    Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me.
  35. Cross References
    Luke 16:29
    But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.
  36. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:1
    Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
  37. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:30
    They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds.
  38. Cross References
    Nahum 1:8
    But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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