| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. | 1Then the LORD said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ” |
| 2And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” | 2I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this. |
| 3And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. | 3Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. |
| 4For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” | 4For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.” |
| 5And the LORD spoke to me further: | 5Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, |
| 6“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah, | 6“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. |
| 7the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks. | 7Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River —the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels |
| 8It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel! | 8and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel. |
| 9Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered! | 9“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! |
| 10Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.” | 10Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us! ” A Call to Trust the LORD |
| 11For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people: | 11The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, |
| 12“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread. | 12“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. |
| 13The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded. | 13Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. |
| 14And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare. | 14He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. |
| 15Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.” | 15Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.” |
| 16Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. | 16Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me. |
| 17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him. | 17I will wait for the LORD, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him. |
| 18Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. | 18I and the children the LORD has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the LORD of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion. |
| 19When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? | 19Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? |
| 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. | 20Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. |
| 21They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. | 21They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven |
| 22Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness. | 22and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness. |
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