Isaiah 8

⁸Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

³And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

²³I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,

²⁴by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.

²Then the Lord answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.

³For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

¹⁷And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.

²⁸“Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.

¹⁰Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.

¹¹And Uriah the priest built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, and he completed it before King Ahaz returned.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”

¹⁶So Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

¹⁰Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the Lord make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

²Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

³So Hosea went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

¹³Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

¹¹Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,

³Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

⁹So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.

⁶I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

⁷But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.

⁵Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

³⁹And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

¹⁰Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying,

⁷Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

¹⁵The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

¹³“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

¹⁸Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

¹⁶Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have done to him as he deserves—

¹⁷for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian,

¹Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.

²When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.

¹²Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.

¹³The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

²⁰On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

¹⁷And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.

⁵The Lord God of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—

⁸Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.

¹⁷The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

²⁸His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

²³“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

¹In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

²And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

¹Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur.

²And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me.

⁵The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.

⁶It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.

²¹Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

¹⁵But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹¹And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!

¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’

¹²Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.

¹³The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

³⁷Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the Lord.

¹¹The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

³¹Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

¹⁴So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord upon me.

¹⁵my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

⁷You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

⁹If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.

⁸I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

¹⁵But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,

⁹When you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be alarmed. These things must happen first, but the end is not imminent.”

⁵There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

¹²“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

¹³But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

¹“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

⁴I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

³You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

⁴Trust in the Lord forever, because God the Lord is the Rock eternal.

⁴Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

⁷You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?

⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, which I gave to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

⁸and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

³²Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

¹⁶Therefore declare that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’

¹For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,

⁴⁴He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

¹³Then the word of the Lord to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

¹⁷But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

³²Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

¹⁴Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

⁴But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

⁵Now Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be spoken later.

¹⁰So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

¹⁰As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.

¹¹He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,

¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

⁴⁵These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,

³⁶You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

³⁷For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

³For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

²⁶It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

⁹And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.

⁸In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

¹³And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”

¹⁴Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

³This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.”

¹⁰Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

⁷I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.

²²Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels

¹³So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance,

⁶Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

⁶He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

³¹You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

¹¹Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

¹³⁰The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.

³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

⁸Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

⁹These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s instruction.

³A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the Lord.

²⁰They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

¹⁸If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

³By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

⁹Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

³⁰In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁶Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

³²The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

⁶Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

⁷How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.