8:1 Yahweh said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's
pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;{"Maher Shalal Hash Baz" means "quick to the
plunder, swift to the spoil."}'
8:2 and I will take for myself faithful
witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."
8:3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then
said Yahweh to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.'
8:4 For before
the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of
Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."
8:5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
8:6 "Because this
people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin
and Remaliah's son;
8:7 now 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.
8:8 It 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 breadth of your land,
Immanuel.
8:9 Make 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 !
8:10 Take counsel together, and it will be
brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."
8:11 For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed
me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
8:12 "Don't say, 'A
conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy!' neither
fear their threats, nor be terrorized.
8:13 Yahweh of Armies is who you must regard as holy. He is the one
you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
8:14 He will be a sanctuary,
but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants
of Jerusalem.
8:15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared,
and be captured."
8:16 Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.
8:17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and
I will look for him.
8:18 Behold, 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.
8:19 When 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
?
8:20 Turn to the law and to the testimony ! If they don't speak according
to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
8:21 They will pass
through it, sore 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,
8:22 and look to the earth, and see distress,
darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.