Chapter 8

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. ² And make me witnesses [of] faithful men, Uriah, 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. 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.

ΚΑΙ εἶπε Κύριος πρός με· λάβε σεαυτῷ τόμον καινοῦ μεγάλου καὶ γράψον εἰς αὐτὸν γραφίδι ἀνθρώπου· τοῦ ὀξέως προνομὴν ποιῆσαι σκύλων· πάρεστι γάρ. καὶ μάρτυράς μοι ποίησον πιστοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τὸν Οὐρίαν καὶ Ζαχαρίαν υἱὸν Βαραχίου. καὶ προσῆλθον πρὸς τὴν προφῆτιν, καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβε καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱόν. καὶ εἶπε Κύριός μοι· κάλεσον τὸν ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ταχέως σκύλευσον, ὀξέως προνόμευσον· διότι πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι τὸ παιδίον καλεῖν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα, λήψεται δύναμιν Δαμασκοῦ καὶ τὰ σκῦλα Σαμαρείας ἔναντι βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων.

⁵ And the Lord 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; 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: 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.

καὶ προσέθετο Κύριος λαλῆσαί μοι ἔτι· διὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Σιλωὰμ τὸ πορευόμενον ἡσυχῆ, ἀλλὰ βούλεσθαι ἔχειν τὸν Ρασεὶμ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν Ρομελίου βασιλέα ἐφ᾿ ὑμῶν, διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ Κύριος ἀνάγει ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ τὸ πολύ, τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀναβήσεται ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φάραγγα ὑμῶν καὶ περιπατήσει ἐπὶ πᾶν τεῖχος ὑμῶν καὶ ἀφελεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἄνθρωπον, ὃς δυνήσεται κεφαλὴν ἆραι ἢ δυνατὸν συντελέσασθαί τι, καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὸ πλάτος τῆς χώρας σου· μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός.

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. 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. ¹¹ Thus saith the Lord, With a strong hand they revolt from the course of 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. ¹³ Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear. 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. ¹⁵ Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely. ¹⁶ Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.

γνῶτε ἔθνη καὶ ἡττᾶσθε, ἐπακούσατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, ἰσχυκότες ἡττᾶσθε· ἐὰν γὰρ πάλιν ἰσχύσητε, πάλιν ἡττηθήσεσθε. καὶ ἣν ἂν βουλεύσησθε βουλήν, διασκεδάσει Κύριος, καὶ λόγον ὃν ἂν εἴπητε, οὐ μὴ ἐμμείνῃ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Οὕτω λέγει Κύριος· τῇ ἰσχυρᾷ χειρὶ ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ πορείᾳ τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου λέγοντες· μήποτε εἴπητε σκληρόν· πᾶν γάρ, ὃ ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, σκληρόν ἐστι· τὸν δὲ φόβον αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ φοβηθῆτε, οὐδ᾿ οὐ μὴ ταραχθῆτε· Κύριον αὐτὸν ἁγιάσατε, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται σου φόβος. καὶ ἐὰν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ πεποιθὼς ἦς, ἔσται σοι εἰς ἁγίασμα καὶ οὐχ ὡς λίθου προσκόμματι συναντήσεσθε αὐτῷ, οὐδὲ ὡς πέτρας πτώματι· οἱ δὲ οἶκοι Ἰακὼβ ἐν παγίδι, καὶ ἐν κοιλάσματι ἐγκαθήμενοι ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. διὰ τοῦτο ἀδυνατήσουσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς πολλοὶ καὶ πεσοῦνται καὶ συντριβήσονται, καὶ ἐγγιοῦσι καὶ ἁλώσονται ἄνθρωποι ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ. Τότε φανεροὶ ἔσονται οἱ σφραγιζόμενοι τὸν νόμον τοῦ μὴ μαθεῖν.

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. 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.

καὶ ἐρεῖ· μενῶ τὸν Θεὸν τὸν ἀποστρέψαντα τὸ πρόσωπόν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου Ἰακὼβ καὶ πεποιθὼς ἔσομαι ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ. ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία, ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός, καὶ ἔσται σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ παρὰ Κυρίου σαβαώθ, ὃς κατοικεῖ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιών.

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? 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.

καὶ ἐὰν εἴπωσι πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ζητήσατε τοὺς ἐγγαστριμύθους καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς φωνοῦντας, τοὺς κενολογοῦντας, οἳ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας φωνοῦσιν, οὐχὶ ἔθνος πρὸς Θεὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκζητήσουσι; τί ἐκζητοῦσι περὶ τῶν ζώντων τοὺς νεκρούς; νόμον γὰρ εἰς βοήθειαν ἔδωκεν, ἵνα εἴπωσιν οὐχ ὡς τὸ ρῆμα τοῦτο, περὶ οὗ οὐκ ἔστι δῶρα δοῦναι περὶ αὐτοῦ.

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, 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.

καὶ ἥξει ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς σκληρὰ λιμὸς καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἂν πεινάσητε, λυπηθήσεσθε καὶ κακῶς ἐρεῖτε τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ τὰ πάτρια, καὶ ἀναβλέψονται εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν κάτω ἐμβλέψονται, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀπορία στενὴ καὶ σκότος, θλίψις καὶ στενοχωρία καὶ σκότος, ὥστε μὴ βλέπειν, καὶ οὐκ ἀπορηθήσεται ὁ ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ ὢν ἕως καιροῦ.