1The LORD said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common writing in common writing: or with an ordinary stylus, Maher-shalal-hash-baz That is Speed-spoil-hasten-plunder; 2and fetch Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah for me as trustworthy witnesses. 3Then I lay with the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son; and the LORD said to me, Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4Before the boy can say Father or Mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be carried off and presented to the king of Assyria.
The king of Assyria is comingIs.8.5-10
5Once again the LORD said to me:
6Because this nation has rejected
the waters of Shiloah, which run so softly and gently prob. rdg, Heb adds Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7therefore the Lord will bring up against it
the strong, flooding waters of the Euphrates,
the king of Assyria and all his glory;
it shall run up all its channels
and overflow all its banks; 8it shall sweep through Judah in a flood,
pouring over it and rising shoulder-high.
The whole expanse of the land shall be filled,
so wide he spreads his wings; for God is with us God is with us: Heb Immanuel. 9Take note, you nations, and be dismayed.
Listen, all you distant parts of the earth:
you may arm yourselves but will be dismayed;
you may arm yourselves but will be dismayed. 10Make your plans, but they will be foiled,
propose what you please, but it shall not stand;
for God is with us?
11These were the words of the LORD to me, for his hand was strong upon me; and he warned me not to follow Or and he turned me from following the ways of this people:
The LORD warns Isaiah.Is.8.11-15
12You shall not say 'too hard' of everything that this people calls hard; you shall neither dread nor fear that which they fear. 13It is the LORD of Hosts whom you must count 'hard' 'hard': prob. rdg, Heb unintelligible in this context; he it is whom you must fear and dread. 14He shall become your 'hardship' 'hardship': prob. rdg, Heb unintelligible in this context, a boulder and a rock which the two houses of Israel shall run against and over which they shall stumble, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem; 15and many shall stumble over them, many shall fall and be broken, many shall be snared and caught.
Warning against consulting fortune-tellers & mediums.Is.8.16-20
16Fasten up the message,
seal the oracle with my teaching Or among my disciples; 17and I will wait for the LORD
who hides his face from the house of Jacob;
I will watch for him. 18See, I and the sons whom the LORD has given me
are to be signs and portents in Israel,
sent by the LORD of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. 19But men will say to you,
'Seek guidance of ghosts and familiar spirits
who squeak and gibber;
a nation may surely seek guidance of its gods,
of the dead on behalf of the living, 20for an oracle or a message?'
They will surely say some such thing as this;
but what they say is futile.
A time of trouble.Is.8.21-9.1
21So despondency and fear will come over them,
and then, when they are afraid and fearful,
they will turn against their king and their gods.
Then, whether they turn their gaze upwards 22or look down,
everywhere is distress and darkness inescapable,
constraint and gloom that cannot be avoided;
(9:1a) for there is no escape for an oppressed people.