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Isaiah 5-8
New King James Version
Isaiah 5-8
New King James Version
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (A)regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
(B)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(C)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (D)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(E)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it (F)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (G)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.
Impending Judgment on Excesses
8 Woe to those who [e]join (H)house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 (I)In my hearing the Lord of hosts said,
“Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one (J)bath,[f]
And a homer of seed shall yield one [g]ephah.”
11 (K)Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may [h]follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
12 (L)The harp and the strings,
The tambourine and flute,
And wine are in their feasts;
But (M)they do not regard the work of the Lord,
Nor consider the operation of His hands.
13 (N)Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no (O)knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth beyond measure;
Their glory and their multitude and their pomp,
And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
15 People shall be brought down,
(P)Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be (Q)exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of (R)the [i]fat ones strangers shall eat.
18 Woe to those who [j]draw iniquity with cords of [k]vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19 (S)That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it.”
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (T)wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who (U)justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
24 Therefore, (V)as the [l]fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So (W)their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 (X)Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And (Y)the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
(Z)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
26 (AA)He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will (AB)whistle to them from (AC)the end of the earth;
Surely (AD)they shall come with speed, swiftly.
27 No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor (AE)will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
28 (AF)Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses’ hooves will [m]seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
30 In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one (AG)looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and [n]sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet(AH)
6 In the year that (AI)King Uzziah died, I (AJ)saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, (AK)with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am [o]undone!
Because I am a man of (AN)unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from (AO)the altar. 7 And he (AP)touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin [p]purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for (AQ)Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
9 And He said, “Go, and (AR)tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 “Make (AS)the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
(AT)Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
And He answered:
(AU)“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,
12 (AV)The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 But yet a tenth will be in it,
And will return and be for consuming,
As a terebinth tree or as an oak,
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
So (AW)the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz(AX)
7 Now it came to pass in the days of (AY)Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against (AZ)it, but could not [q]prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are [r]deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and [s]Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him: [t]‘Take heed, and [u]be (BA)quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and [v]trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— 7 thus says the Lord God:
(BB)“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
8 (BC)For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be [w]broken,
So that it will not be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
(BD)If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 (BE)“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; [x]ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (BF)Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear (BG)a Son, and shall call His name (BH)Immanuel.[y] 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 (BI)For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by (BJ)both her kings. 17 (BK)The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that (BL)Ephraim departed from Judah.”
18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord (BM)will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in (BN)the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.
20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a (BO)hired (BP)razor,
With those from beyond [z]the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.
21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
(BQ)It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.
Assyria Will Invade the Land
8 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and (BR)write on it with a man’s pen concerning [aa]Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, (BS)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; 4 (BT)for before the child [ab]shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ (BU)the riches of Damascus and the [ac]spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:
6 “Inasmuch as these people refused
The waters of (BV)Shiloah that flow softly,
And rejoice (BW)in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
The waters of [ad]the River, strong and mighty—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
He will [ae]go up over all his channels
And go over all his banks.
8 He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
(BX)He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will [af]fill the breadth of Your land, O (BY)Immanuel.[ag]
9 “Be(BZ) shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 (CA)Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, (CB)but it will not stand,
(CC)For [ah]God is with us.”
Fear God, Heed His Word
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with [ai]a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their [aj]threats, nor be [ak]troubled.
13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
14 (CD)He will be as a [al]sanctuary,
But (CE)a stone of stumbling and a rock of [am]offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall (CF)stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and [an]taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait on the Lord,
Who (CG)hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I (CH)will hope in Him.
18 (CI)Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!
We (CJ)are for signs and wonders in Israel
From the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 And when they say to you, (CK)“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, (CL)who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they (CM)seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (CN)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because (CO)there[ao] is no light in them.
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and (CP)curse [ap]their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:1 Lit. In a horn, the son of fatness
- Isaiah 5:2 Lit. hewed out
- Isaiah 5:6 hoed
- Isaiah 5:7 wailing
- Isaiah 5:8 Accumulate houses
- Isaiah 5:10 1 bath=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:10 1 ephah=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:11 pursue
- Isaiah 5:17 Lit. fatlings, rich ones
- Isaiah 5:18 drag
- Isaiah 5:18 emptiness or falsehood
- Isaiah 5:24 Lit. tongue of fire
- Isaiah 5:28 Lit. be regarded as
- Isaiah 5:30 distress
- Isaiah 6:5 destroyed, cut off
- Isaiah 6:7 atoned for
- Isaiah 7:1 conquer it
- Isaiah 7:2 Lit. settled upon
- Isaiah 7:3 Lit. A Remnant Shall Return
- Isaiah 7:4 Be careful
- Isaiah 7:4 be calm
- Isaiah 7:6 cause a sickening dread
- Isaiah 7:8 Lit. shattered
- Isaiah 7:11 Lit. make the request deep or make it high above
- Isaiah 7:14 Lit. God-With-Us
- Isaiah 7:20 The Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:1 Lit. Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty
- Isaiah 8:4 knows how
- Isaiah 8:4 plunder
- Isaiah 8:7 The Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:7 Overflow
- Isaiah 8:8 Lit. be the fullness of
- Isaiah 8:8 Lit. God-With-Us
- Isaiah 8:10 Heb. Immanuel
- Isaiah 8:11 Mighty power
- Isaiah 8:12 Lit. fear or terror
- Isaiah 8:12 Lit. in dread
- Isaiah 8:14 holy abode
- Isaiah 8:14 stumbling over
- Isaiah 8:15 captured
- Isaiah 8:20 Or they have no dawn
- Isaiah 8:21 Or by their king and by their God
Isaiah 5-8
New International Version
Isaiah 5-8
New International Version
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?(H)
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
and it will be trampled.(K)
6 I will make it a wasteland,(L)
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain(N) on it.”
7 The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)
Woes and Judgments
8 Woe(S) to you who add house to house
and join field to field(T)
till no space is left
and you live alone in the land.
9 The Lord Almighty(U) has declared in my hearing:(V)
“Surely the great houses will become desolate,(W)
the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath[a] of wine;
a homer[b] of seed will yield only an ephah[c] of grain.”(X)
11 Woe(Y) to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.(Z)
12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
pipes(AA) and timbrels(AB) and wine,
but they have no regard(AC) for the deeds of the Lord,
no respect for the work of his hands.(AD)
13 Therefore my people will go into exile(AE)
for lack of understanding;(AF)
those of high rank(AG) will die of hunger
and the common people will be parched with thirst.(AH)
14 Therefore Death(AI) expands its jaws,
opening wide its mouth;(AJ)
into it will descend their nobles and masses
with all their brawlers and revelers.(AK)
15 So people will be brought low(AL)
and everyone humbled,(AM)
the eyes of the arrogant(AN) humbled.
16 But the Lord Almighty will be exalted(AO) by his justice,(AP)
and the holy God will be proved holy(AQ) by his righteous acts.
17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;(AR)
lambs will feed[d] among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe(AS) to those who draw sin along with cords(AT) of deceit,
and wickedness(AU) as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, “Let God hurry;
let him hasten(AV) his work
so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One(AW) of Israel—
let it approach, let it come into view,
so we may know it.”(AX)
20 Woe(AY) to those who call evil good(AZ)
and good evil,(BA)
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,(BB)
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.(BC)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes(BD)
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine(BE)
and champions at mixing drinks,(BF)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,(BG)
but deny justice(BH) to the innocent.(BI)
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire(BJ) lick up straw(BK)
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay(BL)
and their flowers blow away like dust;(BM)
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word(BN) of the Holy One(BO) of Israel.
25 Therefore the Lord’s anger(BP) burns against his people;
his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,(BQ)
and the dead bodies(BR) are like refuse(BS) in the streets.(BT)
26 He lifts up a banner(BW) for the distant nations,
he whistles(BX) for those at the ends of the earth.(BY)
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
27 Not one of them grows tired(BZ) or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt(CA) is loosened at the waist,(CB)
not a sandal strap is broken.(CC)
28 Their arrows are sharp,(CD)
all their bows(CE) are strung;
their horses’ hooves(CF) seem like flint,
their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.(CG)
29 Their roar is like that of the lion,(CH)
they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize(CI) their prey
and carry it off with no one to rescue.(CJ)
30 In that day(CK) they will roar over it
like the roaring of the sea.(CL)
And if one looks at the land,
there is only darkness(CM) and distress;(CN)
even the sun will be darkened(CO) by clouds.
Isaiah’s Commission
6 In the year that King Uzziah(CP) died,(CQ) I saw the Lord,(CR) high and exalted,(CS) seated on a throne;(CT) and the train of his robe(CU) filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim,(CV) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,(CW) and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.(DB)
5 “Woe(DC) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!(DD) For I am a man of unclean lips,(DE) and I live among a people of unclean lips,(DF) and my eyes have seen(DG) the King,(DH) the Lord Almighty.”(DI)
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal(DJ) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;(DK) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.(DL)”
8 Then I heard the voice(DM) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?(DN) And who will go for us?(DO)”
And I said, “Here am I.(DP) Send me!”
9 He said, “Go(DQ) and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’(DR)
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;(DS)
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.[e](DT)
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,(DU)
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”(DV)
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”(DW)
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined(DX)
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted(DY)
and the fields ruined and ravaged,(DZ)
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away(EA)
and the land is utterly forsaken.(EB)
13 And though a tenth remains(EC) in the land,
it will again be laid waste.(ED)
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps(EE) when they are cut down,
so the holy(EF) seed will be the stump in the land.”(EG)
The Sign of Immanuel
7 When Ahaz(EH) son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin(EI) of Aram(EJ) and Pekah(EK) son of Remaliah(EL) king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2 Now the house of David(EM) was told, “Aram has allied itself with[f] Ephraim(EN)”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken,(EO) as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[g](EP) to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.(EQ) 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm(ER) and don’t be afraid.(ES) Do not lose heart(ET) because of these two smoldering stubs(EU) of firewood—because of the fierce anger(EV) of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.(EW) 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s(EX) son have plotted(EY) your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:(EZ)
“‘It will not take place,
it will not happen,(FA)
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,(FB)
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.(FC)
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered(FD) to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,(FE)
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand(FF) firm in your faith,(FG)
you will not stand at all.’”(FH)
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign,(FI) whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.(FJ)”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.(FK)”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!(FL) Is it not enough(FM) to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience(FN) of my God(FO) also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[h] a sign:(FP) The virgin[i](FQ) will conceive and give birth to a son,(FR) and[j] will call him Immanuel.[k](FS) 15 He will be eating curds(FT) and honey(FU) when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows(FV) enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,(FW) the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.(FX) 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away(FY) from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.(FZ)”
Assyria, the Lord’s Instrument
18 In that day(GA) the Lord will whistle(GB) for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.(GC) 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices(GD) in the rocks, on all the thornbushes(GE) and at all the water holes. 20 In that day(GF) the Lord will use(GG) a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River(GH)—the king of Assyria(GI)—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard(GJ) also.(GK) 21 In that day,(GL) a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.(GM) 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds(GN) and honey.(GO) 23 In that day,(GP) in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels,[l](GQ) there will be only briers and thorns.(GR) 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers(GS) and thorns. 25 As for all the hills(GT) once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns;(GU) they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.(GV)
Isaiah and His Children as Signs
8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll(GW) and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”[m](GX) 2 So I called in Uriah(GY) the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses(GZ) for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess,(HA) and she conceived and gave birth to a son.(HB) And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.(HC) 4 For before the boy knows(HD) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus(HE) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.(HF)”
5 The Lord spoke to me again:
6 “Because this people has rejected(HG)
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah(HH)
and rejoices over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,(HI)
7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
the mighty floodwaters(HJ) of the Euphrates—
the king of Assyria(HK) with all his pomp.(HL)
It will overflow all its channels,
run over all its banks(HM)
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,(HN)
passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings(HO) will cover the breadth of your land,
Immanuel[n]!”(HP)
9 Raise the war cry,[o](HQ) you nations, and be shattered!(HR)
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare(HS) for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(HT)
propose your plan, but it will not stand,(HU)
for God is with us.[p](HV)
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,(HW) warning me not to follow(HX) the way of this people:
12 “Do not call conspiracy(HY)
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,(HZ)
and do not dread it.(IA)
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,(IB)
he is the one you are to fear,(IC)
he is the one you are to dread.(ID)
14 He will be a holy place;(IE)
for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone(IF) that causes people to stumble(IG)
and a rock that makes them fall.(IH)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare.(II)
15 Many of them will stumble;(IJ)
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured.”
16 Bind up this testimony of warning(IK)
and seal(IL) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait(IM) for the Lord,
who is hiding(IN) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.(IO)
18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.(IP) We are signs(IQ) and symbols(IR) in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.(IS)
The Darkness Turns to Light
19 When someone tells you to consult(IT) mediums and spiritists,(IU) who whisper and mutter,(IV) should not a people inquire(IW) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction(IX) and the testimony of warning.(IY) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light(IZ) of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry,(JA) they will roam through the land;(JB) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse(JC) their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,(JD) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.(JE)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:10 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- Isaiah 5:17 Septuagint; Hebrew / strangers will eat
- Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes
- Isaiah 7:2 Or has set up camp in
- Isaiah 7:3 Shear-Jashub means a remnant will return.
- Isaiah 7:14 The Hebrew is plural.
- Isaiah 7:14 Or young woman
- Isaiah 7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they
- Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God with us.
- Isaiah 7:23 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
- Isaiah 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil; also in verse 3.
- Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
- Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
- Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.