18“In that day, the LORD will whistle to the flies at the ends of the water channels of Egypt and to the bees in the land of Assyria; 19and they shall all come and alight in the rugged wadis, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all the thornbrakes, and in all the watering places.
20“In that day, my Lord will cut away with the razor that is hired beyond the Euphrates—with the king of Assyriai—the hair of the head and j-the hair of the legs,-j and it shall clip off the beard as well. 21And in that day, each man shall save alive a heifer of the herd and two animals of the flock. 22(And he shall obtain so much milk that he shall eat curds.) Thus everyone who is left in the land shall feed on curds and honey.
23“For in that day, every spot where there could stand a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silverk shall become a wilderness of thornbush and thistle. 24One will have to go there with bow and arrows,l for the country shall be all thornbushes and thistles. 25But the perils of thornbush and thistle shall not spread to any of the hills that could only be tilled with a hoe;m and here cattle shall be let loose, and n-sheep and goats-n shall tramp about.”
8 The LORD said to me, “Get yourself a large sheet and write on it a-in common script-a‘For Maher-shalal-hash-baz’;b 2and call reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to witness for Me.” 3I was intimate with the prophetess,c and she conceived and bore a son; and the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.b 4For before the boy learns to call ‘Father’ and ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, d-and the delights of Rezin and of the son of Remaliah,-d shall be carried off before the king of Assyria.”
5Again the LORD spoke to me, thus:
6“Because that people has spurned
The gently flowing waters of Siloam”e—
7Assuredly,
My Lord will bring up against them
The mighty, massive waters of the Euphrates,
The king of Assyria and all his multitude.
It shall rise above all its channels,
And flow over all its beds,
8And swirl through Judah like a flash flood
Reaching up to the neck.f
gBut with us is God,
Whose wings are spread
As wide as your land is broad!
9Band together, O peoples—you shall be broken!
Listen to this, you remotest parts of the earth:
Gird yourselves—you shall be broken;
Gird yourselves—you shall be broken!
10Hatch a plot—it shall be foiled;
Agree on action—it shall not succeed.
For with us is God!
11For this is what the LORD said to me, when He took me by the handh and charged me not to walk in the path of that people:
12i“You must not call conspiracyj
All that that people calls conspiracy,j
Nor revere what it reveres,
Nor hold it in awe.
13None but the LORD of Hosts
Shall you account holy;
Give reverence to Him alone,
Hold Him alone in awe.
14He shall be k-for a sanctuary,
A stone-k men strike against:
A rock men stumble over
For the two Houses of Israel,
And a trap and a snare for those
Who dwell in Jerusalem.
15The masses shall trip over these
And shall fall and be injured,
Shall be snared and be caught.
16Bind up the message,
Seal the instruction with My disciples.”
17So I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the House of Jacob, and I will trust in Him. 18Here stand I and the children the LORD has given me as signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19Now, should people say to you, “Inquire of the ghosts and familiar spirits that chirp and moan; for a people may inquire of its divine beingsl—of the dead on behalf of the living—20for instruction and message,” surely, for one who speaks thus there shall be no dawn. 21m-And he shall go about in it wretched and hungry; and when he is hungry, he shall rage and revolt against his king and his divine beings.-mHe may turn his face upward 22or he may look below, but behold,
Distress and darkness, n-with no daybreak; -n
Straitness and gloom, n-with no dawn. -n
23For o-if there were to be-o any break of day for that [land] which is in straits, only the former [king] would have brought abasement to the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali—while the later one would have brought honor to the Way of the Sea, the other side of the Jordan, and Galilee of the Nations.p
9 aThe people that walked in darkness
Have seen a brilliant light;
On those who dwelt in a land of gloom
Light has dawned.
2You have magnified that nation,
Have given it great joy;
They have rejoiced before You
As they rejoice at reaping time,
As they exult
When dividing spoil.
3For the yoke that they bore
And the stick on their back—
The rod of their taskmaster—
You have broken as on the day of Midian.b
4Truly, all the boots put on c-to stamp with-c
And all the garments donned in infamy
Have been fed to the flames,
Devoured by fire.
5For a child has been born to us,
A son has been given us.
And authority has settled on his shoulders.
He has been named
“The Mighty God is planning grace;d
The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler”—
6In token of abundant authority
And of peace without limit
Upon David’s throne and kingdom,
That it may be firmly established
In justice and in equity
Now and evermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts
Shall bring this to pass.
7My Lord
e-Let loose a word-e against Jacob
And it fell upon Israel.
8But all the people notedf—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
In arrogance and haughtiness:
9“Bricks have fallen—
We’ll rebuild with dressed stone;
Sycamores have been felled—
We’ll grow cedars instead!”
10So the LORD let g-the enemies of Rezin-g
Triumph over it
And stirred up its foes—
11Aram from the east
And Philistia from the west—
Who devoured Israel
With greedy mouths.
Yet His anger has not turned back,
And His arm is outstretched still.
12For the people has not turned back
To Him who struck it
And has not sought
The LORD of Hosts.
13So the LORD will cut off from Israel
Head and tail,
Palm branch and reed,
In a single day.
14Elders h-and magnates-h—
Such are the heads;
Prophets who give false instruction,
Such are the tailsi
15That people’s leaders have been misleaders,
So they that are led have been confused.
16That is why my Lord
Will not sparej their youths,
Nor show compassion
To their orphans and widows;
For all are ungodly and wicked,
And every mouth speaks impiety.
17Already wickedness has blazed forth like a fire
Devouring thorn and thistle.
It has kindled the thickets of the wood,
k-Which have turned into billowing smoke.-k
l-Yet His anger has not turned back,
And His arm is outstretched still.-l
18By the fury of the LORD of Hosts,
The earth was shaken.m
Next, the people became like devouring fire:
No man spared his countryman.
19They snatched on the right, but remained hungry,
And consumed on the left without being sated.
Each devoured the flesh of his n-own kindred-n—
20Manasseh Ephraim’s, and Ephraim Manasseh’s,o
And both of them against Judah!p
Yet His anger has not turned back,
And His arm is outstretched still.
10 Ha!
Those who write out evil writs
And compose iniquitous documents,
2To subvert the cause of the poor,
To rob of their rights the needy of My people;
That widows may be their spoil,
And fatherless children their booty!
3What will you do on the day of punishment,
When the calamity comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
And how will you save your carcassesa
4From collapsing under [fellow] prisoners,
From falling beneath the slain?
Yet His anger has not turned back,
And his arm is outstretched still.
5Ha!
Assyria, rod of My anger,
b-In whose hand, as a staff, is My fury!-b
6I send him against an ungodly nation,
I charge him against a people that provokes Me,
To take its spoil and to seize its booty
And to make it a thing trampled
Like the mire of the streets.
7But he has evil plans,
His mind harbors evil designs;
For he means to destroy,
To wipe out nations, not a few.
8For he thinks,
“After all, c-I have kings as my captains!-c
9Was Calno any different from Carchemish?
Or Hamath from Arpad?
Or Samaria from Damascus?
10d-Since I was able to seize
The insignificant kingdoms,
Whose images exceeded
Jersualem’s and Samaria’s,-d
11Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
What I did to Samaria and her idols?”
12But when my Lord has carried out all his purpose on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, Hee will punish the majestic pride and overbearing arrogance of the king of Assyria. 13For he thought,
“By the might of my hand have I wrought it,
By my skill, for I am clever:
I have erased the borders of peoples;
I have plundered their treasures,
And exiled their vast populations.f
14I was able to seize, like a nest,
The wealth of peoples;
As one gathers abandoned eggs,
So I gathered all the earth:
Nothing so much as flapped a wing
Or opened a mouth to peep.”
15Does an ax boast over him who hews with it,
Or a saw magnify itself above him who wields it?
As though the rod raised him who lifts it,
As though the staff lifted the man!g
16Assuredly,
The Sovereign LORD of Hosts will send
A wasting away in itsh fatness;
And under its bodyi shall burn
A burning like that
