| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ | 1The LORD told me, "Take a large tablet and inscribe these words on it with an ordinary stylus: 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.' |
| 2And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.” | 2Then I will summon as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah." |
| 3And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; | 3I then had sexual relations with the prophetess; she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD told me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, |
| 4for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” | 4for before the child knows how to cry out, 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." |
| 5The LORD spoke to me again: | 5The LORD spoke to me again: |
| 6“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, | 6"These people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. |
| 7therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, | 7So look, the sovereign master is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River--the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. |
| 8and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” | 8It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, O Immanuel." |
| 9Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered. | 9You will be broken, O nations; you will be shattered! Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! |
| 10Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. | 10Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted! Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! For God is with us! |
| 11For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: | 11Indeed this is what the LORD told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people: |
| 12“Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. | 12"Do not say, 'Conspiracy,' every time these people say the word. Don't be afraid of what scares them; don't be terrified. |
| 13But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. | 13You must recognize the authority of the LORD who commands armies. He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear. |
| 14And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. | 14He will become a sanctuary, but a stone that makes a person trip, and a rock that makes one stumble--to the two houses of Israel. He will become a trap and a snare to the residents of Jerusalem. |
| 15And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” | 15Many will stumble over the stone and the rock, and will fall and be seriously injured, and will be ensnared and captured." |
| 16Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. | 16Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, seal the official record of God's instructions and give it to my followers. |
| 17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. | 17I will wait patiently for the LORD, who has rejected the family of Jacob; I will wait for him. |
| 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. | 18Look, I and the sons whom the LORD has given me are reminders and object lessons in Israel, sent from the LORD who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion. |
| 19And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? | 19They will say to you, "Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?" |
| 20To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. | 20Then you must recall the LORD's instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. |
| 21They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. | 21They will pass through the land destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, and they will curse their king and their God as they look upward. |
| 22And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. | 22When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land. |
|
