Isaiah 8 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Yahweh told me, "Take a large tablet and write on it in ordinary script: 'Belonging to Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.'"

I called in trustworthy witnesses — Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.

Then I slept with the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Yahweh told me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz."

Because before the boy knows how to cry 'Daddy!' or 'Mommy!', the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.

Yahweh spoke to me again:

"Because this people has rejected the gentle waters of Shiloah and melts in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah,"

"watch — the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty, raging waters of the Euphrates — the king of Assyria in all his overwhelming power. It will rise over all its channels and spill over all its banks."

"It will sweep into Judah, flooding and overflowing, reaching up to the neck. Its spreading wings will fill the entire breadth of your land, Immanuel!"

Rage all you want, you peoples — you will be shattered. Listen, all you distant lands — strap on your armor — you will be shattered. Strap on your armor — you will be shattered.

Hatch your schemes — they will fall apart. Make your plans — they won't stand. Because God is with us.

This is what Yahweh said to me, gripping me with his powerful hand, warning me not to walk the same road as this people:

"Don't call everything a conspiracy just because this people calls it a conspiracy. Don't share their fears. Don't be terrified."

"Yahweh of Armies — he is the one you should stand in awe of. He is the one you should revere. He is the one who should make you tremble."

"He will be a place of refuge — but also a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. For both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare. For those who live in Jerusalem, a tripwire."

"Many will stumble over him. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught."

Bind up this testimony. Seal this teaching among my followers.

I will wait for Yahweh, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.

Look — here I am, together with the children Yahweh has given me. We are signs and wonders in Israel, sent by Yahweh of Armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

When they tell you, "Go consult the mediums and the spiritists — the ones who whisper and mutter" — shouldn't a people consult their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Turn to the teaching, turn to the testimony! If they don't speak according to this word, it is because there is no dawn for them.

They will wander through the land, crushed and starving. And when their hunger makes them rage, they will curse their king and their God, turning their faces upward —

then look toward the earth — and see only trouble and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into thick, unrelenting darkness.