1 Moreover, the Lord sayd vnto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a mans penne, Make speede to the spoyle: haste to the praye. 2 Then I tooke vnto me faithfull witnesses to recorde, Vriah the Priest, and Zechariah the sonne of Ieberechiah. 3 After, I came vnto the Prophetesse, which conceiued, and bare a sonne. Then sayd the Lord to me, Call his name, Mahershalalhash-baz. 4 For before the childe shall haue knowledge to crye, My father, and my mother, he shall take away the riches of Damascus and the spoyle of Samaria, before the King of Asshur. 5 And the Lord spake yet againe vnto me, saying, 6 Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloah that runne softly, and reioyce with Rezin, and the sonne of Remaliah, 7 Nowe therefore, beholde, the Lord bringeth vp vpon them the waters of the Riuer mightie and great, euen the King of Asshur with all his glory, and he shall come vp vpon all their riuers, and goe ouer all their banks, 8 And shall breake into Iudah, and shall ouerflowe and passe through, and shall come vp to the necke, and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanu-el. 9 Gather together on heapes, O ye people, and ye shalbe broken in pieces, and hearken all ye of farre countreys: gird your selues, and you shalbe broken in pieces: gird your selues, and you shalbe broken in pieces. 10 Take counsell together, yet it shall be brought to nought: pronounce a decree, yet shall it not stand: for God is with vs. 11 For the Lord spake thus to me in taking of mine hand, and taught me, that I should not walke in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacie to all them, to whome this people sayth a confederacie, neither feare you their feare, nor be afrayd of them. 13 Sanctifie the Lord of hostes, and let him be your feare, and let him be your dread, 14 And he shalbe as a Sanctuarie: but as a stumbling stone, and as a rocke to fall vpon, to both the houses of Israel, and as a snare and as a net to the inhabitants of Ierusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and shall fall and shalbe broken and shalbe snared and shalbe taken. 16 Binde vp the testimonie: seale vp the Law among my disciples. 17 Therefore I will waite vpon the Lord that hath hid his face from the house of Iaakob, and I wil looke for him. 18 Beholde, I and the children whome the Lord hath giuen me, are as signes and as wonders in Israel, by the Lord of hostes, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say vnto you, Enquire at them that haue a spirit of diuination, and at the soothsayers, which whisper and murmure, Should not a people enquire at their God? from the liuing to the dead? 20 To the Law, and to the testimonie, if they speake not according to this worde: it is because there is no light in them. 21 Then he that is afflicted and famished, shall go to and from in it: and when he shalbe hungry, he shall euen freat himselfe, and curse his King and his gods, and shall looke vpward. 22 And when he shall looke to the earth, beholde trouble, and darkenes, vexation and anguish, and he is driuen to darkenes.
Isaiah 8 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Original 16th-century spelling.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
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 …