1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.1 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil ; also in verse 3. |
2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." |
3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. |
4 Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." |
5 The LORD spoke to me again: |
6 "Because this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoices over Rezin
and the son of Remaliah, |
7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
the mighty floodwaters of the River2 8:7 That is, the Euphrates -
the king of Assyria with all his pomp.
It will overflow all its channels,
run over all its banks |
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,
passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land,
O Immanuel3 8:8 Immanuel means God with us . !" |
9 Raise the war cry,4 8:9 Or Do your worst you nations, and be shattered!
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered! |
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.5 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel |
11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: |
12 "Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy6 8:12 Or Do not call for a treaty / every time these people call for a treaty ;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it. |
13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread, |
14 and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare. |
15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured." |
16 Bind up the testimony
and seal up the law among my disciples. |
17 I will wait for the LORD ,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him. |
18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. |
19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? |
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. |
21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. |
22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. |
