The Coming Assyrian Invasion

1Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchmentA and write on it with an ordinary pen:B a Maher-shalal-hash-baz.C 2I have appointedA trustworthy witnesses — the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”a

3I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4for before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’a the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”b

5The Lord spoke to me again:

6Because these people rejected

the slowly flowing water of Shiloah

and rejoiced withA Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,a

7the Lord will certainly bring against them

the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River —

the king of Assyria and all his glory.

It will overflow its channels

and spill over all its banks.

8It will pour into Judah,

flood over it, and sweep through,

reaching up to the neck;a

and its flooded banksA

will fill your entire land, Immanuel!b

9Band together,A peoples, and be broken;

pay attention, all you distant lands;

prepare for war, and be broken;

prepare for war, and be broken.

10Devise a plan; it will fail.a

Make a prediction; it will not happen.

For God is with us.a b

The Lord of Armies, the Only Refuge

11For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keepA me from going the way of this people:a

12Do not call everything a conspiracy

that these people say is a conspiracy.a

Do not fear what they fear;b

do not be terrified.

13You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy.a

Only he should be feared;b

only he should be held in awe.

14He will be a sanctuary;a

but for the two houses of Israel,

he will be a stoneb to stumble over

and a rock to trip over,c

and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15Many will stumble over these;a

they will fall and be broken;

they will be snared and captured.

16Bind up the testimony.a

Seal up the instructionb among my disciples.

17I will wait for the Lord,a

who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.b

I will wait for him.

18Here I am with the children the Lord has given mea to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion. 19When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,”a shouldn’t a people inquire of their God?A Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?b 20Go to God’s instruction and testimony!a If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

21They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22They will look toward the eartha and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.