1 ¶ Then the LORD said to me, Get a large piece of parchment, and write on it with a common script, Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

2 And I will have dependable witnesses testify, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

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 before the child will have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.

5 The LORD also spoke to me again, saying,

6 Because these people have rejected the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah, and are delighted with Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

7 Now behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the Euphrates, mighty and deep, even the king of Assyria, with all his glory: and it will overflow all its channels, and extend far beyond its banks:

8 And it will flow into Judah; flooding as it passes on, reaching up to the neck; and its spreading streams will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.

9 ¶ Band together, O you people, and you will be broken to pieces; pay attention, all you distant lands: prepare for war, and you will be broken to pieces; prepare for war, and you will be broken to pieces.

10 Devise a plan, and it will fail; make a prediction, and it will not happen: for God is with us.

11 For the LORD said this to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to go the way of these people, saying,

12 Do not call everything a conspiracy, that these people call a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, or be afraid.

13 Regard the LORD of hosts alone as holy; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 And he will be a sanctuary; but for both the houses of Israel he will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them will stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and taken.

16 ¶ Bind up the testimony, seal the instructions among my disciples.

17 And I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who lives on mount Zion.

19 And when they say to you, Seek those who have familiar spirits, and wizards who peep, and mutter: should not a people seek their God? should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law and to the testimony: if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

21 And they will wander through the land, dejected and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they are hungry, they will become angry, and looking upward will curse their king and their God.

22 And they will look to the earth; and see only trouble and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into thick darkness.