8
1 The
LORD said to me,
“Take a large
tablet, and write
on it with
a man’s pen, ‘For
Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;
2 and
I will take
for myself faithful witnesses
to testify: Uriah
the priest, and
Zechariah the son
of Jeberechiah.”
3 I
went to the
prophetess, and
she conceived, and
bore a son.
Then the LORD
said to me, “Call
his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’
4 For
before the child
knows how to say,
‘My father’ and ‘My
mother,’ the riches
of Damascus and
the plunder of
Samaria will be
carried away by
the king
of Assyria.”
5 The
LORD spoke to
me yet again,
saying,
6 “Because
this people has
refused the waters
of Shiloah that
go softly, and
rejoice in Rezin
and Remaliah’s son;
7 now
therefore, behold,
the Lord brings
upon them the
mighty flood
waters of the
River: the king
of Assyria and all
his glory. It
will come up
over all
its channels, and
go over all
its banks.
8 It
will sweep onward
into Judah. It
will overflow and
pass through. It
will reach even
to the neck.
The stretching out
of its wings
will fill the
width of your land,
O Immanuel.
9 Make
an uproar, you
peoples, and be
broken in pieces!
Listen, all you
from far countries:
dress for battle, and
be shattered! Dress
for battle, and be
shattered!
10 Take
counsel together,
and it will
be brought to
nothing; speak the
word, and it
will not stand,
for God is
with us.”
11 For
the LORD spoke
this to me
with a strong
hand, and
instructed me not
to walk in
the way of
this people, saying,
12 “Don’t call
a conspiracy all
that this
people call a
conspiracy. Don’t fear
their threats or
be terrorized.
13 The
LORD of Armies
is who you must
respect as holy.
He is the
one you must fear.
He is the
one you must dread.
14 He
will be a
sanctuary, but for
both houses of
Israel, he will
be a
stumbling stone and
a rock that
makes them fall.
For the people
of Jerusalem, he
will be a
trap and a
snare.
15 Many
will stumble over
it, fall, be
broken, be snared,
and be captured.”
16 Wrap up
the covenant. Seal
the law among
my disciples.
17 I
will wait for
the LORD, who
hides his face
from the house
of Jacob, and
I will look
for him.
18 Behold,
I and the
children whom the
LORD has given
me are for signs
and for wonders
in Israel from
the LORD of
Armies, who dwells
in Mount Zion.
19 When
they tell you, “Consult
with those who
have familiar spirits and
with the wizards,
who chirp and who
mutter,” shouldn’t a
people consult
with their God?
Should they
consult the dead
on behalf of
the living?
20 Turn to
the law and
to the covenant! If
they don’t speak according
to this word,
surely there is
no morning for
them.
21 They
will pass through
it, very distressed
and hungry. It
will happen that
when they are
hungry, they
will worry, and
curse their king
and their God.
They will turn
their faces upward,
22 then
look to the earth
and see distress,
darkness, and the
gloom of anguish.
They will be
driven into thick
darkness.