Isaiah tells his disciples that he will trust God
16 Tie a string around the paper where I have written this. Keep it safe as a true message. Give it to my disciples, to teach them. 17 I will wait for the Lord to do what he says. He has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. But I will trust him to do what is right.
8:17Jacob was Abraham's grandson. God gave Jacob a new name, ‘Israel’. The 12 tribes of Israel were descendants of Jacob's 12 sons.
18 Look! Here I am, with the children that the Lord has given to me. We are messages from the Lord Almighty who lives on Mount Zion. We are messages to Israel's people.
19 They will say to you, ‘Go to the people who speak to the spirits of dead people. Go to the magicians who speak magic words. They will tell you what you should do. People should ask their gods and spirits to give them messages. People who are alive should ask the spirits of dead people to help them.’
20 When they say that to you, remember my teaching. Tell them what I have said will happen. People who talk like that are completely in the dark. There is no truth in what they say. 21 Then the people will travel through the land, and they will be sad and hungry. Because they are hungry, they will become angry. They will curse their king and their God, as they look up to the sky. 22 They will look down at the earth, but they will only see trouble. Everywhere will be dark and people will not hope for anything good. Then they will fall into complete darkness.
8:20In the Bible, when people do not know the truth about God, it is like they are living in a dark place. God gives light so that people know the truth.
