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The Coming Assyrian Invasion
8 Moreover the Lord said to me, Take for yourself a large book and write in it with a man’s pen: “Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.”[a] 2 I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberekiah. 3 So I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.[b] 4 For before the child knows how to cry “My father” and “My mother,” the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
5 The Lord spoke to me again, saying:
6 Because this people refuses
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoices in Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
7 now therefore the Lord certainly is about to bring upon them
the strong and plentiful waters of the River,[c]
even the king of Assyria and all his glory;
and he shall come up over all his channels
and go over all his banks.
8 And he shall pass through Judah, he shall overflow and go over,
he shall reach even to the neck,
and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land,
O Immanuel.
9 Be broken, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces.
And give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, but it shall come to nothing;
speak the word, but it shall not stand
for God is with us.
Fear God
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
12 You should not say, “It is a conspiracy,”
concerning all that this people calls a conspiracy,
neither fear their threats
nor be afraid of them.
13 Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself,
and let Him be your fear,
and let Him be your dread.
14 He shall become a sanctuary,
but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
to both the houses of Israel,
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many among them shall stumble
and fall and be broken
and be snared and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony;
seal the law among My disciples.
17 I will wait on the Lord,
who hides His face from the house of Jacob,
and I will eagerly look for Him.
18 See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 When they say to you, “Seek after the mediums and the wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek after their God? Should they consult the dead for the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony; if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 They shall pass through the land hard-pressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they shall be furious and curse their king and their God as they look upward. 22 Then they shall look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish. And they shall be driven away into darkness.
The Coming King
9 Nevertheless there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time He contemptuously treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them the light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
and increased the joy;
they rejoice before You
according to the joy of harvest
and as men rejoice
when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
and the bar of his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor
as in the day of Midian’s defeat.
5 For all the sandals of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to order it and to establish it
with justice and with righteousness,
from now until forever.
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will perform this.
The Message Against Israel
8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
and it falls upon Israel.
9 All the people shall know,
even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in the pride
and stoutness of heart,
10 “The bricks are fallen down,
but we will build with hewn stones;
the sycamores are cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore, the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and join his enemies together.
12 The Arameans shall be before and the Philistines behind;
and they shall devour Israel with open jaws.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
and His hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who struck them,
nor do they seek the Lord of Hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and bulrush, in one day.
15 The elder and honorable man, he is the head;
and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err,
and those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men,
nor shall He have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
and His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns as a fire;
it shall devour the briers and thorns,
and shall ignite in the thickets of the forest,
and they shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts
is the land burned up,
and the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
no man shall spare his brother.
20 They shall snatch on the right hand,
but still be hungry;
and they shall eat on the left hand,
and shall not be satisfied;
every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh consumes Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh,
and they together shall be against Judah.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
and His hand is stretched out still.
Visions and Revelations
12 Doubtless it is not profitable for me to boast. So I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ over fourteen years ago—whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew that such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knows— 4 was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words not permitted for a man to say. 5 Of such a person, I will boast. Yet of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses. 6 For if I desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But now I resist, lest anyone should think of me above that which he sees me to be or hears from me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 I asked the Lord three times that this thing might depart from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in hardships, in persecutions, and in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Psalm 55
For the Music Director. With stringed instruments. A Contemplative Maskil of David.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint, and I murmur,
3 because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the pressure of the wicked,
for they cause trouble to drop on me,
and in wrath they have animosity against me.
4 My heart is in pain within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling come into me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
For then I would fly away and be at rest.
7 Indeed, then I would wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls;
trouble and sorrow are in its midst.
11 Destruction is in its midst;
oppression and treachery do not depart from its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
then I could hide from him.
13 But it was you, my peer,
my guide, and my acquaintance.
14 We took pleasant counsel together,
and walked to the house of God in company.
15 May death surprise them,
and may their lives go down to Sheol,
for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
16 As for me, I will call on God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon,
I will make my complaint and murmur,
and He will hear my voice.
18 He has ransomed my life in peace
from the battle against me,
for there were many against me.
19 God will hear and afflict them,
even He who sits enthroned from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
therefore they do not fear God.
20 My friend has set his hands against those at peace with him;
he has violated his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
but battle was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and He will sustain you;
He will never allow
the righteous to be moved.
23 But You, O God, will cast the wicked down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But I will trust in You.
Saying Eight
4 Do not labor to be rich;
cease from your own wisdom.
5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.