Assyrian Invasion Prophesied

¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary^* stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.² And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses— Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

³ And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ⁴ For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

⁵ And the LORD spoke to me further:

⁶ “Because this people has rejected

the gently flowing waters of Shiloah

and rejoiced in Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,

⁷ the Lord will surely bring against them

the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—

the king of Assyria and all his pomp.

It will overflow its channels

and overrun its banks.

⁸ It will pour into Judah,

swirling and sweeping over it,

reaching up to the neck;

its spreading streams will cover

your entire land, O Immanuel!

⁹ Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered;^*

pay attention, all you distant lands;

prepare for battle, and be shattered;^*

prepare for battle, and be shattered!^*

¹⁰ Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;

state a proposal, but it will not happen.

For God is with us.”

A Call to Fear God

¹¹ For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me^* not to walk in the way of this people:

¹² “Do not call conspiracy^*

everything these people regard as conspiracy.^*

Do not fear what they fear;

do not live in dread.^*

¹³ The LORD of Hosts is the One

you shall regard as holy.

Only He should be feared;

only He should be dreaded.^*

¹⁴ And He will be a sanctuary —

but to both houses of Israel

a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,^*

to the dwellers of Jerusalem

a trap and a snare.

¹⁵ Many will stumble over these;

they will fall and be broken;

they will be ensnared and captured.”

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony

and seal 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 as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Darkness and Light

¹⁹ When men tell you to consult mediums^* and spiritists who whisper and mutter,^* shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? 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 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged;^* and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. ²² Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.