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, c Maher-shalal-hash-baz.d 2I have appointede trustworthy witnesses — Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”f

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 out father or mother,g the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”h

5The LORD spoke to me again:

6Because these people rejected

the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah

and rejoiced withi Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,j

7the Lord will certainly bring against them

the mighty rushing waters 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;k

and its spreading streamsl

will fill your entire land, Immanuel!m

9Band together, 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.n

Make a prediction; it will not happen.

For God is with us.o, p

The Lord of Hosts, the Only Refuge

11For this is what the LORD said to me with great power, to keepq me from going the way of this people:r

12Do not call everything an alliance

these people say is an alliance.s

Do not fear what they fear;t

do not be terrified.

13You are to regard only the LORD of •Hosts as holy.u

Only He should be •feared;v

only He should be held in awe.

14He will be a sanctuary;w

but for the two houses of Israel,

He will be a stonex to stumble over

and a rock to trip over,y

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

15Many will stumble over these;z

they will fall and be broken;

they will be snared and captured.

16Bind up the •testimony.aa

Seal up the instructionab among my disciples.

17I will wait for the LORD,ac

who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.ad

I will wait for Him.

18Here I am with the children the LORD has given meae to be signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts who dwells on Mount •Zion. 19When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,”af shouldn’t a people consult their God?ag Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?ah 20To the law and to the testimony!ai 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 earthaj and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.