8Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”H3068H559H3947H1419H1549H3789H582H2747H41222I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.H5749H539H5707H5749H223H3548H2148H1121H30003Then 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.H7126H5031H2029H3205H1121H559H3068H7121H8034H41224For 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.”H5288H3045H7121H1H517H2428H1834H7998H8111H5375H6440H4428H8045Then the Lord spoke to me again and said,H3068H1696H3254H5596“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.H3282H5971H3988H4325H7975H1980H328H4885H7526H7425H11217Therefore, 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 channelsH136H5927H4325H5104H6099H7227H4428H804H3519H5927H650H1980H14158and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.H2498H3063H7857H5674H5060H6677H4298H3671H4393H7341H776H6005H4109“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!H7489H5971H2865H238H3605H4801H776H247H2865H247H286510Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us!”H5779H6098H5779H6565H1696H1697H6965H410
A Call to Trust the Lord
11The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,H3068H559H2393H3027H3256H3212H1870H5971H55912“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.H559H7195H5971H559H7195H3372H4172H620613Make 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.H6942H3068H6635H4172H620614He 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.H4720H68H5063H6697H4383H8147H1004H3478H6341H4170H3427H338915Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”H7227H3782H5307H7665H3369H392016Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.H6887H8584H2856H8451H392817I will wait for the Lord, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.H2442H3068H5641H6440H1004H3290H696018I 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.H3206H3068H5414H226H4159H3478H3068H6635H7931H2022H672619Someone 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?H559H1875H178H3049H6850H1897H5971H1875H430H2416H419120Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.H8451H8584H559H1697H783721They 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 heavenH5674H7185H7457H7456H7107H7043H4428H430H6437H460522and 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.H5027H776H6869H2825H4588H6695H5080H653
Ashburn, VA
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