The LORD commands Isaiah to write the sign-name publicly and secure reliable witnesses.
Isaiah 8:1-8
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 I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
Before the child matures enough to speak basic words, Damascus and Samaria will be plundered by Assyria.
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 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.”
Because the people reject the gentle waters of Shiloah, the LORD brings the mighty floodwaters of Assyria into Judah.
5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
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 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, Immanuel.
Enemy plans and strategies fail before the reality of Immanuel.
Isaiah 8:9-15
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 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
Isaiah is commanded not to join the people’s panic but to regard the LORD Almighty as holy.
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 “Don’t say, ‘A conspiracy!’ concerning all about which this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’ neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.
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.
The LORD becomes refuge to some and offense, trap, and judgment to many in Israel.
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 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
Isaiah waits for the LORD, trusts him, and preserves the instruction while he and his children serve as signs.
Isaiah 8:16-22
16 Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.
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 whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
The people are warned against occult guidance and shown the darkness that follows rejection of the LORD’s instruction.
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 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 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,
22 and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.