8:1 The LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
8:2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.”
8:3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
8:4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
8:5 The LORD spoke to me again:
8:6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
8:7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River–the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8:8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!”
8:9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
8:11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
8:12 “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
8:13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,
8:14 and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
8:15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”
8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.
8:17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
8:18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
8:21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
8:22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
8:1 Then Jehovah said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in plain letters, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
8:2 And I will take faithful witnesses, Urijah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
8:3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. And Jehovah said to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz,
8:4 For before this boy knows how to call, Father, and, Mother, they will carry off the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of Assyria.
8:5 Then Jehovah spoke further to me, saying,
8:6 Because these people have rejected / The gently flowing waters of Shiloah, and exult / In Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
8:7 Now therefore the Lord is bringing up upon them / The mighty and abundant waters of the Euphrates, / The king of Assyria and all his glory; / And it will overflow all its channels, / And go over all its banks.
8:8 It will sweep through Judah; it will overflow and rise / Until it reaches the neck; / And the spreading out of its wings / Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
8:9 Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; / Hearken, all you distant places of the earth: / Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; / Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.
8:10 Take counsel, yet it will be frustrated; / Speak the word, yet it will not stand; / For God is with us.
8:11 For Jehovah spoke to me in this way with great force and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
8:12 You shall not call it conspiracy / All that this people calls conspiracy; / And you shall not fear what they fear nor hold it in awe.
8:13 You shall sanctify Jehovah of hosts; / He shall be the One to fear and He shall be the One to hold in awe.
8:14 Then He will become a sanctuary, yet a stone to strike against / And a rock of stumbling / To both houses of Israel, / A trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:15 And many will stumble at these, / And will fall and be broken to pieces, / And will be snared and taken captive.
8:16 Bind up the testimony; seal the instruction among my disciples;
8:17 And I will wait on Jehovah, who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look eagerly for Him.
8:18 See, I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who abides on Mount Zion.
8:19 When they say to you, Inquire of the necromancers and the familiar spirits, who twitter and mutter; say to them, Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they go to the dead on behalf of the living ?
8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because in them there is no dawn.
8:21 And they go through it hard-pressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they rage and curse their king and their God. They turn their faces upward,
8:22 And they look to the earth, but there is only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish and being thrust into darkness.