The king of Assyria will defeat the cities of Damascus and Samaria
1The Lord told me to write this name in big letters: ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’.
2The priest Uriah and Zechariah, son of Jeberekja, had to be there. They had to be the witnesses when I wrote it. 3My wife had a son and the Lord told me: ‘You must name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, 4because before this child can talk, the king of Assyria will take away everything in Damascus and Samaria.’
The soldiers of Assyria will be all over the land
5The Lord also told me: 6‘These people of Judah and Jerusalem became afraid of King Rezin and King Pekah, son of Remaliah. They thought that the little stream of water in the channel next to Jerusalem was not important. 7That is why I will bring the king of Assyria and all his soldiers to come and fight against Jerusalem. The king and his soldiers will be like the great Euphrates River that has a lot of water and that flows so strongly that the water will overflow the land. 8The river will flow up to the land_of_Judah and the water will cover the whole land and the water will rise up to people's necks. You say: “God is with us,” but the soldiers of Assyria will be all over your land.’
God is with us
9The people said:
‘Listen, all of you,
people from nations far away,
you can put on your armour
and prepare to go to war,
but you will be defeated,
and you will not know where to run.
10You will make plans together,
and you will say what you want to do,
but your plans will fail,
because God is not with you. He is with us.’
Do not be afraid
11The Lord put his strong hand on me, Isaiah.
He told me not to do what these people do.
He said to me:
12‘This nation says other people
are making plans against them,
but you must not say that.
They were afraid, but you
must not be afraid too.’
13You must fear only the Lord,
who rules over all.
He is the holy God,
14and He will protect you.
But for Israel and Judah He will be
a stone that makes them fall.
They will stumble over that rock.
He will be a trap for the people
who live in Jerusalem.
15Many of those people will fall
into the trap and they will die.
I will wait until God helps us
16Close the book in which I have warned the people and give it to my learners so that they can keep it. 17The Lord is angry with the descendants of Jacob, but I, Isaiah, will wait until He helps us. I will keep on hoping. 18Here am I and the children that God gave me. We are the signs that show the Israelites that the Lord who rules over all is living on Mount_Zion.
You must know what God wants
19Some people say you must ask mediums and spiritists what to do. But a nation must ask God what they should do. They must not ask dead people to find out what is good for people who are alive. 20You must know what the Lord wants you to do and you must listen to what He tells you. Someone who does not ask God what he must do will not live until the next day. 21He will suffer and become hungry. He will be angry and curse his king and his gods. He will look up to the sky 22and he will look to the ground, but there will be no one to help him. He will only suffer and it will be dark for him. Yes, it will be very dark.
