Study Desk

Then the Lord said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(a)write on it ^[a]in ordinary letters: ^[b](b)Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.

And ^[c]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(c)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, "Name him ^[d](d)Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

for ^(e)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father' or ‘My mother,' the wealth of ^(f)Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

"Inasmuch as these people have ^(g)rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in ^(h)Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

"Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ⁽ⁱ⁾strong and abundant waters of the ^[e](j)Euphrates, Even the ^(k)king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will ^(l)rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

"Then ^(m)it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will ⁽ⁿ⁾reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will ^[f]fill the breadth of ^[g]your land, O ^(o)Immanuel.

"^(p)Be broken, O peoples, and be ^[h](q)shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be ^[i]shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be ^[j]shattered.

"^(r)Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a ^[k]proposal, but ^(s)it will not stand, For ^[l](t)God is with us."

For thus the Lord spoke to me ^[m]with ^(u)mighty power and instructed me ^(v)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

"You are not to say, ‘It is a ^(w)conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And ^(x)you are not to fear ^[n]what they fear or be in dread of it.

"It is the ^(y) Lord of hosts ^(z)whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.

"Then He shall become a ^(aa)sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a ^(ab)stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a ^(ac)trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

"Many ^(ad)will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught."

^(ae)Bind up the testimony, ^(af)seal the ^[o]law among ^(ag)my disciples.

And I will ^(ah)wait for the Lord ^(ai)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.

^(aj)Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for ^(ak)signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who ^(al)dwells on Mount Zion.

When they say to you, "^(am)Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should not a people ^(an)consult their God? Should they ^(ao)consult the dead on behalf of the living?

To the ^[p](ap)law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(aq)they have no dawn.

They will pass through ^[q]the land ^(ar)hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse ^[r]their king and their God as they face upward.

Then they will ^(as)look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^(at)driven away into darkness.