Isaiah (Douay: Isaias) 8

¹ The LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;

² and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³ I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’

⁴ For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

⁵ The LORD spoke to me yet again, saying,

⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

⁷ now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.

⁸ It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, O Immanuel.

⁹ Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”

¹¹ For the LORD spoke this to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹² “Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their threats or be terrorized.

¹³ The LORD of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

¹⁴ He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.

¹⁵ Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”

¹⁶ Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷ I will wait for the LORD, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹ When they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

²⁰ Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

²¹ They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward,

²² then look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.

¹ AAnd the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man’s pen. Take away the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey.

² And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and Zacharias the son of Barachias.

³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make hast to take away the prey.

⁴ For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians.

⁵ And the Lord spoke to me again, saying:

⁶ Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Rasin, and the son of Romelia:

⁷ Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks.

⁸ And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy, land, O Emmanuel.

⁹ Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome.

¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

¹² Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

¹³ Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

¹⁴ And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken.

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷ And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

¹⁸ Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion.

¹⁹ And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead?

²⁰ To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.

²¹ And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards.

²² And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress.