A Sign-Child is Born

1The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet and inscribe these words on it with an ordinary stylus: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ 2Then I will summon as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” 3I then had sexual relations with the prophetess; she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, 4for before the child knows how to cry out, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

5The Lord spoke to me again: 6“These people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. 7So look, the sovereign master is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. 8It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, O Immanuel.”

9You will be broken, O nations;

you will be shattered!

Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

10Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!

Issue your orders, but they will not be executed!

For God is with us!

The Lord Encourages Isaiah

11Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people:

12“Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word.

Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.

13You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies.

He is the one you must respect;

he is the one you must fear.

14He will become a sanctuary,

but a stone that makes a person trip,

and a rock that makes one stumble –

to the two houses of Israel.

He will become a trap and a snare

to the residents of Jerusalem.

15Many will stumble over the stone and the rock,

and will fall and be seriously injured,

and will be ensnared and captured.”

16Tie up the scroll as legal evidence,

seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers.

17I will wait patiently for the Lord,

who has rejected the family of Jacob;

I will wait for him.

18Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me are reminders and object lessons in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives

19They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” 20Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. 21They will pass through the land destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, and they will curse their king and their God as they look upward. 22When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.