The Coming Assyrian Invasion

1Then Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it [†]in ordinary letters: Concerning [†]Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2And [†]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3Then I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name [†]Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5Again Yahweh spoke to me further, saying,

6“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah

And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

7Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the mighty and abundant waters of the [†]River—

The king of Assyria and all his glory;

And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

8Then it will sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through;

It will reach even to the neck;

And the spread of its wings will [†]fill the breadth of [†]Your land, O Immanuel.

Yahweh, a Sanctuary and a Stumbling Stone

9“Be broken, O peoples, and be [†]shattered;

And give ear, all remote places of the earth.

Gird yourselves, yet be [†]shattered;

Gird yourselves, yet be [†]shattered.

10Devise counsel, but it will be thwarted;

Speak a word, but it will not stand,

For [†]God is with us.”

11For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a strong hand and disciplined me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’

In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy;

And you are not to fear [†]what they fear, and you shall not tremble.

13It is Yahweh of hosts whom you should regard as holy.

And He shall be your fear,

And He shall be your cause of trembling.

14Then He shall become a sanctuary;

But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,

And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15And many will stumble over them;

Then they will fall and be broken;

They will even be snared and caught.”

16Bind up the testimony, seal the [†]law among my disciples. 17And I will wait for Yahweh who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope for Him. 18Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Darkness to Light Through the Prince of Peace

19Now when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the [†]law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21And they will pass through [†]the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse [†]their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be banished into thick darkness.