Isaiah 9:8

The prophet announced that God had pronounced a message (Heb. dabar, word) of judgment against the Northern Kingdom. It had all the force of Yahweh’s sovereign power behind it, but it would come subject to Ephraim continuing on the course it presently pursued. Prophetic announcements of judgment usually allowed for the possibility of repentance. If the people under God’s promised judgment repented, the judgment would not fall (cf. Jeremiah 18:7-10; Jonah 3:4-10).