Isaiah 8:11-22

For in this way the LORD spoke to me with His strong hand [upon me] and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people [behaving as they do], saying, “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it. “It is the LORD of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome. He shall be your [source of] fear, He shall be your [source of] dread [not man]. “Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him]; But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip, A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [Is 28:6; Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:6-8] “Many [among them] will stumble over them; Then they will fall and be broken, They will even be snared and trapped.” Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah’s) disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will look eagerly for Him. Listen carefully, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, “Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? [Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn. They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward. Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.