8:1 Then the LORD said to me, "Take a large tablet and write upon it in common characters, `Belonging to Ma'her-shal'al-hash-baz.'"
8:2 And I got reliable witnesses, Uri'ah the priest and Zechari'ah the son of Jeberechi'ah, to attest for me.
8:3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, "Call his name Ma'her-shal'al-hash-baz;
8:4 for before the child knows how to cry `My father' or `My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Sama'ria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."
8:5 The LORD spoke to me again:
8:6 "Because this people have refused the waters of Shilo'ah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remali'ah;
8:7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks;
8:8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Imman'u-el."
8:9 Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed; give ear, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed.
8:10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nought; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
8:11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:
8:12 "Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
8:13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
8:14 And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:15 And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."
8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
8:17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
8:19 And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
8:20 To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn.
8:21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their God, and turn their faces upward;
8:22 and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Terms of Use