CHAPTER 8
Then the LORD
said
to me,
“Take
a large
scroll
and write
on
it with an ordinary
stylus:
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
And I will appoint
for myself
trustworthy
witnesses—
Uriah
the priest
and Zechariah
son
of Jeberekiah.”
And I had relations
with
the prophetess,
and she conceived
and gave birth to
a son.
The LORD
said
to me,
“Name
him
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
For
before
the boy
knows
how to cry
‘Father’
or ‘Mother,’
the wealth
of Damascus
and the plunder
of Samaria
will be carried off
to
the king
of Assyria.”
“Because
this
people
has rejected
the gently
flowing
waters
of Shiloah
and rejoiced
in Rezin
and the son
of Remaliah,
the Lord
will surely
bring
against them
the mighty
rushing
waters
of the Euphrates—
the king
of Assyria
and all
his pomp.
It will overflow
its channels
and run
over
all
its banks.
It will pour
into Judah,
swirling
and sweeping over it,
reaching
up to
the neck;
its spreading streams
will cover
your entire
land,
O Immanuel!
Huddle together,
O peoples,
and be shattered;
pay attention,
all
you distant
lands;
prepare for battle,
and be broken;
prepare for battle,
and be dismayed.
Devise
a plan,
but it will be thwarted;
state
a proposal,
but it will not
happen.
For
God
is with us.”
For
this is what
the LORD
spoke
to me
with a strong
hand,
instructing me
not to walk
in the way
of this
people:
“Do not
call
conspiracy
everything
these
people
regard
as conspiracy.
Do not
fear
what they fear;
do not
live in dread.
The LORD
of Hosts
is the One
to regard as holy.
Only He
should be feared;
only He
should be dreaded,
and He will be
a sanctuary.
But to both
houses
of Israel
He will be a stone
of stumbling
and a rock
of offense,
a trap
and a snare
to the dwellers
of Jerusalem.”
I will wait
for the LORD,
who is hiding
His face
from the house
of Jacob.
I will put my trust
in Him.
Here
am I,
and the children
the LORD
has given
me
to be signs
and symbols
in Israel
from
the LORD
of Hosts,
who dwells
on Mount
Zion.
When
men tell
you
to consult
the spirits of the dead
and the spiritists
who whisper
and mutter,
shouldn’t
a people
consult
their God instead?
Why consult the dead
on behalf of
the living?
To the law
and to the testimony!
If
they do not
speak
according to this
word,
they have no
light of dawn.
They will roam the land,
dejected
and hungry.
When
they are famished,
they will become enraged,
and looking
upward,
they will curse
their king
and their God.
Then they will look
to
the earth
and see
only distress
and darkness
and the gloom
of anguish.
And they will be driven
into utter darkness.