1 Y ahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;

2 a nd 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 Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’

4 F or before the child knows how to say, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

5 Y ahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,

6 “ Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

7 n ow therefore, behold, the Lord brings 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 I t will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, Immanuel.

9 M ake an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!

10 T ake counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us.”

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

12 “ Don’t say, ‘A conspiracy!’ concerning all about which this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’ neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.

13 Y ahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

14 H e will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 M any will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”

16 W rap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 B ehold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.

19 W hen they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:” shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 T urn to the law and to the testimony! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

21 T hey will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

22 a nd look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.