Assyria Will Invade the Land

8 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and awrite on it with a man’s pen concerning 1Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, bUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; 4 cfor before the child 2shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ dthe riches of Damascus and the 3spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

5 The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:

6 “Inasmuch as these people refused

The waters of eShiloah that flow softly,

And rejoice fin Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;

7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them

The waters of 4the River, strong and mighty—

The king of Assyria and all his glory;

He will 5go up over all his channels

And go over all his banks.

8 He will pass through Judah,

He will overflow and pass over,

gHe will reach up to the neck;

And the stretching out of his wings

Will 6fill the breadth of Your land, O hImmanuel. 7

9 “Be ishattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!

Give ear, all you from far countries.

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.

10 jTake counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

Speak the word, kbut it will not stand,

lFor 8God is with us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with 9a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’

Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,

Nor be afraid of their 1threats, nor be 2troubled.

13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;

Let Him be your fear,

And let Him be your dread.

14 mHe will be as a 3sanctuary,

But na stone of stumbling and a rock of 4offense

To both the houses of Israel,

As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall ostumble;

They shall fall and be broken,

Be snared and 5taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony,

Seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait on the Lord,

Who phides His face from the house of Jacob;

And I qwill hope in Him.

18 rHere am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!

We sare for signs and wonders in Israel

From the Lord of hosts,

Who dwells in Mount Zion.

19 And when they say to you, t“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, uwho whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they vseek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 wTo the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because xthere 6is no light in them.

21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and ycurse 7their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.

The Government of the Promised Son

9 Nevertheless athe gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,

As when at bfirst He lightly esteemed

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

And cafterward more heavily oppressed her,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

In Galilee of the Gentiles.

2 dThe people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them a light has shined.

3 You have multiplied the nation

And 1increased its joy;

They rejoice before You

According to the joy of harvest,

As men rejoice ewhen they divide the spoil.

4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden

And the staff of his shoulder,

The rod of his oppressor,

As in the day of fMidian.

5 For every warrior’s 2sandal from the noisy battle,

And garments rolled in blood,

gWill be used for burning and fuel 3of fire.

6 hFor unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a iSon is given;

And jthe government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

kWonderful, Counselor, lMighty God,

Everlasting Father, mPrince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace

nThere will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The ozeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The Punishment of Samaria

8 The Lord sent a word against pJacob,

And it has fallen on Israel.

9 All the people will know—

Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—

Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

10 “The bricks have fallen down,

But we will rebuild with hewn stones;

The sycamores are cut down,

But we will replace them with cedars.”

11 Therefore the Lord shall set up

The adversaries of Rezin against him,

And spur his enemies on,

12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;

And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.

For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is 4stretched out still.

13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,

Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,

Palm branch and bulrush qin one day.

15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;

The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.

16 For rthe leaders of this people cause them to err,

And those who are led by them are destroyed.

17 Therefore the Lord swill have no joy in their young men,

Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;

For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,

And every mouth speaks 5folly.

tFor all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

18 For wickedness uburns as the fire;

It shall devour the briers and thorns,

And kindle in the thickets of the forest;

They shall mount up like rising smoke.

19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts

vThe land is burned up,

And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;

wNo man shall spare his brother.

20 And he shall 6snatch on the right hand

And be hungry;

He shall devour on the left hand

xAnd not be satisfied;

yEvery man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;

Together they shall be zagainst Judah.

aFor all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

10 “Woe to those who adecree unrighteous decrees,

Who write misfortune,

Which they have prescribed

2 To rob the needy of justice,

And to take what is right from the poor of My people,

That widows may be their prey,

And that they may rob the fatherless.

3 bWhat will you do in cthe day of punishment,

And in the desolation which will come from dafar?

To whom will you flee for help?

And where will you leave your glory?

4 Without Me they shall bow down among the eprisoners,

And they shall fall 1among the slain.”

fFor all this His anger is not turned away,

But His hand is stretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

5 “Woe to Assyria, gthe rod of My anger

And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.

6 I will send him against han ungodly nation,

And against the people of My wrath

I will igive him charge,

To seize the spoil, to take the prey,

And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 jYet he does not mean so,

Nor does his heart think so;

But it is in his heart to destroy,

And cut off not a few nations.

8 kFor he says,

‘Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not lCalno mlike Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad?

Is not Samaria nlike Damascus?

10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,

Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,

Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has 2performed all His work oon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, p“I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

13 qFor he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;

Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,

And have robbed their treasuries;

So I have put down the inhabitants like a 3valiant man.

14 rMy hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,

And as one gathers eggs that are left,

I have gathered all the earth;

And there was no one who moved his wing,

Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

15 Shall sthe ax boast itself against him who chops with it?

Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?

As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,

Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!

16 Therefore the Lord, the 4Lord of hosts,

Will send leanness among his fat ones;

And under his glory

He will kindle a burning

Like the burning of a fire.

17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,

And his Holy One for a flame;

tIt will burn and devour

His thorns and his briers in one day.

18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of uhis fruitful field,

Both soul and body;

And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest

Will be so few in number

That a child may write them.

The Returning Remnant of Israel

20 And it shall come to pass in that day

That the remnant of Israel,

And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,

vWill never again depend on him who 5defeated them,

But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,

To the wMighty God.

22 xFor though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,

yA remnant of them will return;

The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 zFor the Lord God of hosts

Will make a determined end

In the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, ado not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of bEgypt. 25 For yet a very little while cand the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of hosts will 6stir up da scourge for him like the slaughter of eMidian at the rock of Oreb; fas His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

27 It shall come to pass in that day

That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,

And his yoke from your neck,

And the yoke will be destroyed …