Isaiah’s Children as Signs

¹YHWH said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash Baz.[#8:1 “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” means “Swift to the plunder, speedy to the prey”.]

²I will call as faithful witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³I went intimately into the prophetess, and she conceived, and gave birth to a son. Then YHWH said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’

⁴For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

⁵Adding to this YHWH spoke to me further, saying,

⁶“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son,

⁷now therefore, look, the Lord is bringing upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.

⁸It will sweep onward into Judah, flooding it and flowing over it, reaching up to its neck. The spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel!

⁹Do y’all worst, O nations,

y’all will be shattered!

Y’all pay attention, all those from far countries:

Y’all prepare for battle, and be shattered!

Y’all prepare for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰Y’all will devise a plan, but it will be thwarted

Y’all will speak a speech, but it will not rise,

for God is with us.”

Wait on YHWH

¹¹For YHWH spoke to me with a strong hand, and warning me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹²“Y’all must not say, ‘Conspiracy!’

every time these people say there is a conspiracy.

Y’all must not fear what they fear or live in dread.

¹³YHWH Almighty is the one who y’all are to regard as holy.

Hᴇ is the one y’all are to fear.

Hᴇ is the one y’all are to dread.

¹⁴Hᴇ will be a sanctuary,

but for both houses of Israel,

ʜᴇ will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall.

For the people of Jerusalem, ʜᴇ will be a trap and a snare.

¹⁵Many will stumble over it,

They will fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”

¹⁶You are to bind up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷I will wait for YHWH, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will watch hopefully for ʜɪᴍ.

¹⁸Look, I and the children whom YHWH has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from YHWH Almighty who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹When they say to y’all, “Y’all should consult with mediums and spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?

²⁰Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

²¹They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. When they are hungry, they will worry, and curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward,

²²then look to the earth and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.