Isaiah · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Isaiah 8 Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
1 And the Lord said to me, Take to thyself a volume of a great new [book], and write in it with a man’s pen concerning the making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is near at hand.
1 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;
2 And make me witnesses [of] faithful men, Uriah, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 And I went in to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, Spoil quickly, plunder speedily.
3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’
4 For before the child shall know [how] to call [his] father or [his] mother, [one] shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.
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 And the Lord spoke to me yet again, [saying],
5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 Because this people chooses not the water of Siloam that goes softly, but wills to have Rezin, and the son of Remaliah [to be] king over you;
6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7 therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and abundant, [even] the king of the Assyrians, and his glory: and he shall come up over every valley of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours:
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 and he shall take away from Judah [every] man who shall be able to lift up his head, [and every one] able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall fill the breadth of thy land, [O] God with us.
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 Know, ye Gentiles, and be conquered; hearken ye, even to the extremity of the earth: be conquered, after ye have strengthened yourselves; for even if ye should again strengthen yourselves, ye shall again be conquered.
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 And whatsoever counsel ye shall take, the Lord shall bring it to nought; and whatsoever word ye shall speak, it shall not stand among you: for God is with us.
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 Thus saith the Lord, With a strong hand they revolt from the course of the way of this people, saying,
11 For Yahweh spoke this to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Let them not say, [It is] hard, for whatsoever this people says, is hard: but fear not ye their fear, neither be dismayed.
12 “Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their threats or be terrorized.
13 Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear.
13 Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
14 And if thou shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come against [him] as against a stumbling stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit.
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 Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely.
15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
16 Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.
16 Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.
17 And [one] shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.
17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be [for] signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning the living?
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 For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.
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 And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, [that] when ye shall be hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers’ ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above,
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 and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that [one cannot] see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.
22 then look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.
23 Drink this first. Act quickly, O land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, and the rest [inhabiting] the seacoast, and [the land] beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
23 Not in this translation
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jeberekiah
Named only as the father of the Zechariah who witnessed Isaiah's scroll.
Cited in the guide: Isaiah 8:2
Zechariah
Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, appointed by the LORD as a trustworthy witness together with Uriah the priest.
Cited in the guide: Isaiah 8:2
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 30:8; Isaiah 8:3; Job 19:23–24; Habakkuk 2:2–3; Revelation 21:17
- 2 2 Kings 16:10–11; 2 Kings 16:15–16; 2 Kings 18:2; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Ruth 4:10–11
- 3 Hosea 1:3–9; 2 Kings 22:14; Isaiah 7:13–14; Judges 4:4
- 4 Romans 9:11; 2 Kings 17:3; 2 Kings 16:9; Isaiah 10:6–14; 2 Kings 17:5–6
- 5 Isaiah 7:10
- 6 John 9:7; Nehemiah 3:15; Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 2:18; Judges 9:16–20
- 7 Isaiah 17:12–13; Isaiah 7:20; Genesis 6:17; Amos 9:5; Amos 8:8
- 8 Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 30:28; Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 28:14–22; Isaiah 36:1–22
- 9 Isaiah 14:5–6; Proverbs 11:21; Psalm 37:14–15; 1 Kings 20:11; Joel 3:9–14
- 10 Lamentations 3:37; Romans 8:31; Job 5:12; Proverbs 21:30; Psalm 46:11
- 11 Ezekiel 3:14; Proverbs 1:15; Jeremiah 15:19; Jeremiah 20:7; Jeremiah 20:9
- 12 1 Peter 3:14–15; Luke 21:9; Psalm 53:5; Isaiah 51:12–13; Isaiah 30:1
- 13 Luke 12:5; Isaiah 26:3–4; Revelation 15:4; Matthew 10:28; Psalm 76:7
- 14 1 Peter 2:8; Romans 9:32–33; Isaiah 28:16; Luke 2:34; Ezekiel 11:16
- 15 Matthew 21:44; Isaiah 28:13; Luke 20:17–18; Romans 9:32; Matthew 15:14
- 16 Daniel 12:4; Hebrews 3:5; Revelation 19:10; Mark 4:10–11; 1 Corinthians 2:14
- 17 Hebrews 10:36–39; Habakkuk 2:3; Lamentations 3:25–26; Isaiah 25:9; Psalm 33:20
- 18 Hebrews 2:13–14; Luke 2:34; Zechariah 8:3; Isaiah 53:10; Psalm 71:7
- 19 1 Chronicles 10:13; Leviticus 20:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Psalm 106:28; Leviticus 19:31
- 20 2 Peter 1:19; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Acts 17:11; Psalm 119:130; John 5:39
- 21 Proverbs 19:3; Isaiah 9:20; Jeremiah 14:18; 2 Kings 25:3; Jeremiah 52:6
- 22 Isaiah 5:30; Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13; Jeremiah 13:16; Proverbs 14:32
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, Father or mother, He shall receive the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, against the king of the Assyrians;" declaring, in a mysterious manner indeed, but emphatically, that the Lord did fight with a hidden hand against Amalek.
How is it then that the prophet said, "Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz?" Because, when he was born, there was a taking and dividing of spoils, therefore the event that took place in his time is put as his name.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… beside the waters of comfort, He hath converted my soul:--that Angels also may share your joy, and Christ Himself the great High Priest, having accepted your resolve, may present you all to the Father, saying, Behold, I and the children whom God hath given Me.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
It is very shameful, and not only shameful, but very foolish, to take from things below a guess at things above, and from a fluctuating nature at the things that are unchanging, and as Isaiah says, to seek the Living among the dead. But yet I will try, for your sake, to give you some assistance for your argument, even …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Again, there are those who say, "He is a man, and who shall know him?" and, "I came unto the prophetess, and she bare a son, and His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God;" and those [of them] who proclaimed Him as Immanuel, [born] of the Virgin, exhibited the union of the Word of God with His own …