New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then the Lord said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, "Belonging to 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 and have it attested for me by reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.
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I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document.
3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Name 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 the child knows how to call "My father" or "My mother," the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.
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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 The Lord spoke to me again:
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God spoke to me again, saying:
6 Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
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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 is bringing up against it the mighty flood waters of the River, the king of Assyria and all his glory; it will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks;
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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 it will sweep on into Judah as a flood, and, pouring over, it will reach up to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, 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 Band together, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed!
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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 Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, 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 For the Lord spoke thus to me while his hand was strong upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:
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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 Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears, or be in dread.
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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 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
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If you're going to worry, worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
14 He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over—a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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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 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.
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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 Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
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Gather up the testimony, preserve the teaching for my followers,
17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will 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 See, 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.
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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 Now if people say to you, "Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living,
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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 for teaching and for instruction?" surely, those who speak like this will have no dawn!
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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 pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upward,
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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 or they will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick 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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.