8 Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} said to me: “Take a large tablet and write on it with an ordinary stylus, ‘Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz.’ 2 And let me have it confirmed in writing by faithful witnesses, U·ryʹah the priest and Zech·a·ryʹah the son of Ye·ber·e·chyʹah.”
3 Then I had relations with the prophetess, and she became pregnant and in time gave birth to a son. Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} then said to me: “Name him Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz, 4 for before the boy knows how to call out, ‘My father!’ and ‘My mother!’ the resources of Damascus and the spoil of Sa·marʹi·a will be carried away before the king of As·syrʹi·a.”
5 Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} spoke to me again:
6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of the Shi·loʹah
And they rejoice over Reʹzin and the son of Rem·a·lyʹah,
7 Therefore look! Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} will bring against them
The mighty and vast waters of the River,
The king of As·syrʹi·a and all his glory.
He will come up over all his streambeds
And overflow all his banks
8 And sweep through Judah.
He will flood and pass through, reaching to the neck;
His outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land,
9 Cause harm, you peoples, but you will be shattered to pieces.
Listen, all you from distant parts of the earth!
Prepare for battle, but you will be shattered to pieces!
Prepare for battle, but you will be shattered to pieces!
10 Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted!
Say what you like, but it will not succeed,
11 With his strong hand on me, this is what Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} said to me to warn me away from following the course of this people:
12 “You should not call a conspiracy what this people calls a conspiracy!
Do not fear what they fear;
Do not tremble at it.
13 Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} of armies—he is the One you should regard as holy,
He is the One you should fear,
And he is the One who should cause you to tremble.”
14 He will become as a sanctuary,
But as a stone to strike against
And as a rock to stumble over
To both houses of Isra'Al,
As a trap and a snare
To the inhabitants of Yerushalom.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall and be broken;
They will be ensnared and caught.
16 Wrap up the written confirmation;
Seal up the law among my disciples!
17 I will keep in expectation of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, who is hiding his face from the house of Yacob, and I will hope in him.
18 Look! I and the children whom Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} has given me are as signs and as miracles in Isra'Al from Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} of armies, who resides on Mount Zion.
19 And if they say to you: “Inquire of the spirit mediums or of the fortune-tellers who chirp and mutter,” is it not of their Al {pre. Ahl} that a people should inquire? Should they inquire of the dead in behalf of the living? 20 Instead, they should inquire of the law and of the written confirmation!
When they do not speak according to this word, they have no light. 21 And each one will pass through the land afflicted and hungry; and because he is hungry and indignant, he will curse his king and his Al {pre. Ahl} as he looks upward. 22 Then he will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness, obscurity and hard times, gloom and no brightness.