Then the LORD said
to me, "Take
for yourself a large
tablet
and awrite
on it 1in ordinary
letters
: 2 bSwift
is the booty
, speedy
is the prey
.
"And 1I will take to Myself faithful
witnesses
for testimony
, aUriah
the priest
and Zechariah
the son
of Jeberechiah
."
So I approached the prophetess
, and she conceived
and gave
birth
to a son
. Then the LORD
said
to me, "Name
him 1 aMaher-shalal-hash-baz
;
for abefore the boy
knows
how to cry
out `My father
' or `My mother
,' the wealth
of bDamascus
and the spoil
of Samaria
will be carried
away before
the king
of Assyria
."
Again the LORD
spoke
to me further
, saying
,
"Inasmuch as these
people
have arejected
the gently
flowing
waters
of Shiloah
And rejoice
in bRezin
and the son
of Remaliah
;
"Now therefore, behold
, the Lord
is about to bring
on them the astrong
and abundant
waters
of the 1 bEuphrates
, Even the cking
of Assyria
and all
his glory
; And it will drise
up over
all
its channels
and go
over
all
its banks
.
"Then ait will sweep on into Judah
, it will overflow
and pass
through
, It will breach
even
to the neck
; And the spread
of its wings
will 1fill
the breadth
of 2your land
, O cImmanuel
.
" aBe broken, O peoples
, and be 1 bshattered
; And give
ear
, all
remote
places
of the earth
. Gird
yourselves, yet be 1shattered
; Gird
yourselves, yet be 1shattered
.
" aDevise a plan
, but it will be thwarted
; State
a 1proposal
, but bit will not stand
, For 2 cGod
is with us."
For thus the LORD
spoke
to me 1with amighty
power
and instructed
me bnot to walk
in the way
of this
people
, saying
,
"You are not to say, `It is a aconspiracy
!' In regard to all
that this
people
call
a conspiracy
, And byou are not to fear
1what
they fear
or be in dread
of it.
"It is the aLORD of hosts
bwhom you should regard
as holy
. And He shall be your fear
, And He shall be your dread
.
"Then He shall become a asanctuary
; But to both
the houses
of Israel
, a bstone
to strike
and a rock
to stumble
over, And a snare
and a ctrap
for the inhabitants
of Jerusalem
.
"Many awill stumble
over them, Then they will fall
and be broken
; They will even be snared
and caught
."
aBind up the testimony
, bseal
the 1law
among cmy disciples
.
And I will await for the LORD
bwho is hiding
His face
from the house
of Jacob
; I will even look
eagerly
for Him.
aBehold, I and the children
whom
the LORD
has given
me are for bsigns
and wonders
in Israel
from the LORD
of hosts
, who cdwells
on Mount
Zion
.
When they say
to you, " aConsult
the mediums
and the spiritists
who whisper
and mutter
," should not a people
bconsult
their God
? Should they cconsult the dead
on behalf
of the living
?
To the 1 alaw and to the testimony
! If
they do not speak
according to this
word
, it is because
bthey have
no
dawn
.
They will pass through 1the land ahard-pressed
and famished
, and it will turn
out that when
they are hungry
, they will be enraged
and curse
2their king
and their God
as they face
upward
.
Then they will alook to the earth
, and behold
, distress
and darkness
, the gloom
of anguish
; and they will be bdriven
away
into darkness
.