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13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[a]
He is the one you must respect;
he is the one you must fear.[b]
14 He will become a sanctuary,[c]
but a stone that makes a person trip,
and a rock that makes one stumble—
to the two houses of Israel.[d]
He will become[e] a trap and a snare
to the residents of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over the stone and the rock,[f]
and will fall and be seriously injured,
and will be ensnared and captured.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:13 tn Heb “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.
  2. Isaiah 8:13 tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear; he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yareʾ) and עָרַץ (ʿarats) are repeated from v. 12b.
  3. Isaiah 8:14 tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) probably needs to be emended to an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).
  4. Isaiah 8:14 sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
  5. Isaiah 8:14 tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vehayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.
  6. Isaiah 8:15 tn Heb “over them” (so NASB); NCV “over this rock.”