1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, "Take thee a great leaf, and write in it, as men do with a pen, 'Make hasty speed to rob, and haste to the spoil.'"
2 And immediately I called unto me faithful witnesses: Uriah the priest, and Zachariah the son of Barachiah.
3 After that went I unto the Prophetess, that now had conceived and born a son. Then said the LORD to me, "Give him this name: Mahershalahashbaz.
4 For why? Before the child shall have knowledge to say 'Abi' and 'Im'," - that is, father, and mother - "the riches of Damascus and the substance of Samaria shall be taken away, through the king of the Assyrians."
6 "Forasmuch as the people refuseth the still-running water of Siloam, and put their delight in Rezin and Remaliah's son:
7 Behold, the Lord shall bring mighty and great floods of water upon them: namely, the king of the Assyrians with all his power. Which shall pour out his furiousness upon every man, and run over all their banks.
8 And shall break in upon Judah, increasing in power, till he get him by the throat. He shall fill also the wideness of thy land with his broad wings, O Immanuel."
9 Go together ye people, and gather you, hearken to all ye of far countries. Muster you, and you shall be broken down: prepare you to battle and you shall be torn in pieces.
10 Take your counsel together, yet must your counsel come to nought; go in hand withal, yet shall it not prosper. For God is with us.
11 For the LORD chastised me, and took me by the hand, and warned me, saying unto me that I should not walk in the ways of this people. He said moreover,
12 "Round with none of them, whosoever say, 'Yonder people are bound together.' Nevertheless fear them not, neither be afraid of them,
13 but sanctify the LORD of Hosts: let him be your fear and dread.
14 For he is the sanctifying, and stone to stumble at, the rock to fall upon, a snare and net to both the houses: to Israel, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem.
15 And many shall stumble, fall, and be broken upon him: yea they shall be snared and taken."
16 Now lay the witnesses together and seal the law with my disciples.
17 Thus I wait upon the LORD that hath turned his face from the house of Jacob, and I look unto him.
18 But lo, as for me, and the children which the LORD hath given me: we are a token and a wonder in Israel, for the LORD of Hosts' sake, which dwelleth upon the hill of Zion.
19 And therefore if they say unto you, "Ask counsel at the soothsayers, witches, charmers and conjurers," then make them this answer: "Is there a people anywhere, that asketh not counsel at his God? Should they run unto the dead for the living?"
20 If any man want light, let him look upon the law and the testimony whether they speak not after this meaning.
21 If he do not this, he stumbleth and suffereth hunger. And if he suffer hunger, he is out of patience, and blasphemeth his king and his God. Then looketh he upward, and downward to the earth,
22 and behold, there is trouble and darkness; vexation is round about him, and the cloud of error. And out of such adversity, shall he not escape.