New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then the LORD said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ”
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Then God told me, "Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, 'This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).'"
2 I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.
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I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document.
3 Then 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.
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Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.
4 For 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.”
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Before that baby says 'Daddy' or 'Mamma' the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria."
5 Then the LORD spoke to me again and said,
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God spoke to me again, saying:
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.
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"Because this people has turned its back on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah And gotten all excited over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7 Therefore, 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
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I'm stepping in and facing them with the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates, The king of Assyria and all his fanfare, a river in flood, bursting its banks,
8 and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.
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Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it, water up to your necks, A huge wingspan of a raging river, O Immanuel, spreading across your land."
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!
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But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands. Listen, all of you, far and near. Prepare for the worst and wring your hands. Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!
10 Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us! ”
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Plan and plot all you want - nothing will come of it. All your talk is mere talk, empty words, Because when all is said and done, the last word is Immanuel - God-With-Us. A Boulder Blocking Your Way
11 The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,
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God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
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"Don't be like this people, always afraid somebody is plotting against them. Don't fear what they fear. Don't take on their worries.
13 Make 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.
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If you're going to worry, worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
14 He 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.
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The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way, The Rock standing in the willful way of both houses of Israel, A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass to the citizens of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”
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Many of them are going to run into that Rock and get their bones broken, Get tangled up in that barbed wire and not get free of it."
16 Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
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Gather up the testimony, preserve the teaching for my followers,
17 I will wait for the LORD, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.
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While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for him.
18 I 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.
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I stand my ground and hope, I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel, Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who makes his home in Mount Zion.
19 Someone 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?
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When people tell you, "Try out the fortunetellers. Consult the spiritualists. Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?"
20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
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Tell them, "No, we're going to study the Scriptures." People who try the other ways get nowhere - a dead end!
21 They 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
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Frustrated and famished, they try one thing after another. When nothing works out they get angry, cursing first this god and then that one, Looking this way and that,
22 and 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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up, down, and sideways - and seeing nothing, A blank wall, an empty hole. They end up in the dark with nothing.