1 Then the Lord said to me, "Take a large tablet and inscribe on it with an ordinary stylus: 'Swift to Plunder, Quick to Spoil.'"

Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

2 And I will call reliable witnesses for myself—Uriah the priest and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah.

And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3 I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Swift to Plunder, Quick to Spoil)."

And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

4 For before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.

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

5 The Lord spoke to me again:

The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,

6 "Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty and abundant waters of the River—the king of Assyria and all his splendor. It will overflow all its channels and spill over all its banks.

Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

8 It will sweep into Judah, flooding and passing through; it will reach up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the entire breadth of your land, O Immanuel.

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

9 Be shattered, you nations, and be terrified! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle and be terrified; prepare for battle and be shattered.

Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Devise your plans, but they will be thwarted; issue your orders, but they will not stand, for God is with us.

Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

11 For this is what the Lord said to me with a strong hand, warning me not to follow the way of this people:

For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 "Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not be terrified.

Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 The Lord of Hosts—he is the one you are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to fear; he is the one you are to dread.

Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 Many will stumble over it; they will fall and be broken, they will be ensnared and captured.

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

16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18 Here I am, along with the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19 When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' shouldn’t a people consult their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

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

21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged, and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

23 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan.