| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1Then the LORD said to me, "Take a large piece of parchment and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. | 1The LORD also told me, "Take a large tablet and write on it with a stylus pen, 'For Maher-shalal-hash-baz'. |
| 2I have appointed trustworthy witnesses--Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah." | 2Then I will call Uriah the priest and Jeberechiah's son Zechariah as reliable witnesses to testify on my behalf." |
| 3I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, | 3After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him 'Maher-shalal-hash-baz,' |
| 4for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria." | 4for before the young lad knows how to call out to his father or 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: | 5The LORD spoke to me again: |
| 6Because these people rejected the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced with Rezin and the son of Remaliah, | 6"Because this people have rejected the gently-flowing waters of Shiloah, and because they keep rejoicing in Rezin and Remaliah's son, |
| 7the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River-- the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks. | 7watch out! The LORD God is about to bring the flood waters of the Euphrates River against them, mighty and strong. "It's the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river's channels and run over all of its banks. |
| 8It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck; and its spreading streams will fill your entire land, Immanuel! | 8He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters reaching up to a person's neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!" |
| 9Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken. | 9"Band together, you peoples, but be shattered! Listen, all you distant countries! Strap on your armor, but be shattered. |
| 10Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us. | 10Take counsel together, but it will all be for nothing; go ahead and talk, but it will all be for nothing, for God is with us." |
| 11For this is what the LORD said to me with great power, to keep me from going the way of this people: | 11For this is what the LORD spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living: |
| 12Do not call everything an alliance these people say is an alliance. Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified. | 12"Don't call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and don't fear what they fear, or live in terror. |
| 13You are to regard only the LORD of Hosts as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be held in awe. | 13The LORD of the Heavenly Armies— he's the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror! |
| 14He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | 14Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he'll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem. |
| 15Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured. | 15Many will stumble on them; They'll fall and be broken; They'll be snared and captured. |
| 16Bind up the testimony. Seal up the instruction among my disciples. | 16"Bind up the testimony, and seal up the teaching among my disciples. |
| 17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will wait for Him. | 17I'll wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I'll put my trust in him. |
| 18Here I am with the children the LORD has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. | 18Watch out! I and the children whom the LORD has given me are a sign and a wonder in Israel from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, who resides on Mount Zion." |
| 19When they say to you, "Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter," shouldn't a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? | 19"So when they advise you, 'Ask the mediums your questions, and quiz the spiritists who chirp and mutter,' shouldn't a people instead be consulting their God— and not the dead— on behalf of those who are living |
| 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. | 20for instruction and for testimony? Surely they are speaking like this because the truth hasn't dawned on them. |
| 21They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. | 21"They'll pass through the land, while greatly distressed and hungry. When they are hungry, they'll become enraged, and they'll curse their king and their god. They'll turn their faces upwards, |
| 22They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness. | 22or they'll look toward the earth, but they'll see only distress and darkness, the gloom that comes from anguish, and then they'll be thrown into total darkness." |
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