Assyrian Invasion Prophesied
1 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll 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, “Name him ‘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 off by the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me yet again saying,
6 “Because this people has rejected
the softly flowing waters of Shiloah,
and rejoice in Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
7 now therefore, the Lord is bringing 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 up to the neck.
The spreading of its wings
will fill the width of your land, O Immanuel.
9 Band together, you peoples, and be shattered!
Listen, all you from far countries:
prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare 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.”
A Call to Fear God
11 For the Lord spoke this to me in a powerful way and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy!’
concerning everything about which
this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’
nor fear their threats,
nor be terrorized.
13 The Lord of Hosts 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 Bind the covenant.
Seal the testimony 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 Here I am and the children whom the Lord has given me as signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
Afflictions to Idolaters
19 When they tell you, “Consult with spirits of the dead and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,” should a people not 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 do not speak according to this word, surely it is because there is no light in them.
21 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and will curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward 22 and look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.