The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet wand write on it in common characters,1 ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’2 2 And xI will get reliable witnesses, yUriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, z“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 afor before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the awealth of bDamascus and the spoil of bSamaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of cShiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over dRezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ethe waters of fthe River,3 mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it gwill rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, hreaching even to the neck, and its ioutspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, jO Immanuel.”
9 Be broken,4 you peoples, and kbe shattered;5
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, lbut it will not stand,
Fear God, Wait for the Lord
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and nwarned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call oconspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and pdo not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, qhim you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a rsanctuary and sa stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many tshall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up uthe testimony; vseal the teaching7 among my disciples. 17 I will wwait for the Lord, who is xhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 yBehold, I and zthe children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the amediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of bthe dead on behalf of the living? 20 cTo the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ddawn. 21 They will pass through the land,8 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against9 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 eAnd they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into fthick darkness.
For to Us a Child Is Born
1 10 But there will be no ggloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he hbrought into contempt the land of iZebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he jhas made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.11
2 12 iThe people kwho walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ldeep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 mYou have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with njoy at the harvest,
as they oare glad pwhen they divide the spoil.
4 qFor the yoke of his burden,
rand the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as son the day of Midian.
5 tFor every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 uFor to us a child is born,
to us va son is given;
wand the government shall be xupon13 his shoulder,
and his name shall be called14
Wonderful yCounselor, zMighty God,
aEverlasting bFather, Prince of cPeace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
dthere will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
ewith justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
fThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
gEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 hThe Syrians on the east and ithe Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
jFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people kdid not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel lhead and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 mthe elder and honored man is the head,
and nthe prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not orejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is pgodless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks qfolly.15
jFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like ra fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and sthe people are like fuel for the fire;
tno one spares another.
20 uThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
veach devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are wagainst Judah.
xFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
1 Woe to those who ydecree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who zkeep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and ato rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on bthe day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come cfrom afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
dFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, ethe rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a fgodless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take gspoil and seize plunder,
and to htread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he idoes not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
j“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 kIs not lCalno like mCarchemish?
pIs not qSamaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to rthe kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and sher idols
tas I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 uWhen the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, vhe16 will punish the speech17 of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 wFor he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15 Shall xthe axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his ystout warriors,
and under his glory za burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17 aThe light of Israel will become a fire,
and bhis Holy One a flame,
and cit will burn and devour
his thorns and briers din one day.
18 The glory of ehis forest and of his ffruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 gIn that day hthe remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more ilean on him who struck them, but jwill lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, kto the mighty God. 22 lFor though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, monly a remnant of them will return. nDestruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, owho dwell in Zion, pbe not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as qthe Egyptians did. 25 For rin a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And sthe Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck tMidian uat the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it vas he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day whis burden will depart from your shoulder, and xhis yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”18
28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through yMigron;
at Michmash he stores zhis baggage;
29 they have crossed over athe pass;
at bGeba they lodge for the night;
cRamah trembles;
dGibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of eGallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor fAnathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at gNob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of hthe daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts
iwill lop jthe boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down jthe thickets of the forest with an axe,
and kLebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
Greeting
1 Paul, an aapostle—bnot from men nor through man, but cthrough Jesus Christ and God the Father, dwho raised him from the dead— 2 and all ethe brothers1 who are with me,
To fthe churches of Galatia:
3 gGrace to you and peace hfrom God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 iwho gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present jevil age, according to the will of kour God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel— 7 onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, rlet him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying sto please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a tservant2 of Christ.
Paul Called by God
11 For uI would have you know, brothers, that vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.3 12 wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of ymy former life in Judaism, how zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely azealous was I for bthe traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he cwho had set me apart dbefore I was born,4 and who ecalled me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to5 me, in order fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;6 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James hthe Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, ibefore God, I do not lie!) 21 jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
