1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and ^wwrite on it in common characters,¹ ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’² 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, ^xUriah 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, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for ^ybefore the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ ^zthe wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria 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 Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^aRezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River,³ mighty and many, ^bthe king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will 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, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O ^cImmanuel.”

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me ^ewith his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^fdo not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a ^gsanctuary and ^ha ⁱstone 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 shall ^jstumble on it. ^kThey shall ^lfall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony; ^mseal the teaching⁷ among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is ⁿhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and ^oI will hope in him. 18 ^pBehold, I and the ^qchildren whom the Lord has given me ^rare signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, ^s“Inquire of the ^tmediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 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 And they will look to the earth, but ^ubehold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.