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The Coming Assyrian Invasion

¹ Then Yahweh said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(C1)write on it ^(F1)in ordinary letters: ^(C2)Concerning ^(F2)Maher-shalal-hash-baz.² "And ^(F1)I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(C1)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."³ Then I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, "Call his name ^(F1)(C1)Maher-shalal-hash-baz,⁴ for ^(C1)before the boy knows how to cry out 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of ^(C2)Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

⁵ Again Yahweh spoke to me further, saying,

⁶ "Inasmuch as these people have ^(C1)rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in ^(C2)Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

⁷ Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ^(C1)mighty and abundant waters of the ^(F1)(C2)River—
The ^(C3)king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will ^(C4)rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

⁸ "Then ^(C1)it will sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through;
It will ^(C2)reach even to the neck;
And the spread of its wings will ^(F1)fill the breadth of ^(F2)Your land, O ^(C3)Immanuel.

Yahweh, a Sanctuary and a Stumbling Stone

⁹ "^(C1)Be broken, O peoples, and be ^(F1)(C2)shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be ^(F1)shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be ^(F1)shattered.

¹⁰ "^(C1)Devise counsel, but it will be thwarted;
Speak a word, but ^(C2)it will not stand,
For ^(F1)(C3)God is with us."

¹¹ For thus Yahweh spoke to me with a ^(C1)strong hand and disciplined me ^(C2)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹² "You are not to say, 'It is a ^(C1)conspiracy!'
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy;
And ^(C2)you are not to fear ^(F1)what they fear, and you shall not tremble.

¹³ "It is ^(C1)Yahweh of hosts ^(C2)whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your cause of trembling.

¹⁴ "Then He shall become a ^(C1)sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a ^(C2)stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a ^(C3)trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ "And many ^(C1)will stumble over them;
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught."

^16 (C1)Bind up the testimony, ^(C2)seal the ^(F1)law among ^(C3)my disciples.¹⁷ And I will ^(C1)wait for Yahweh ^(C2)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope for Him.^18 (C1)Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for ^(C2)signs and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who ^(C3)dwells on Mount Zion.

Darkness to Light Through the Prince of Peace

¹⁹ Now when they say to you, "^(C1)Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should not a people ^(C2)inquire of their God? Should they ^(C3)inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?²⁰ To the ^(F1)(C1)law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(C2)they have no dawn.²¹ And they will pass through ^(F1)the land ^(C1)hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse ^(F2)their king and their God as they face upward.²² Then they will ^(C1)look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^(C2)banished into thick darkness.