¶ Moreover the LORD said unto me: Take thee a great leaf, and write in it, as men do with a pen, that he speed him to rob, and haste him to spoil.
And immediately I called unto me faithful witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zachariah the son of Barachiah.
After that went I unto the Prophetess, that now had conceived and born a son. Then said the LORD to me: give him this name: Maherschalal hashbas, that is: (a speedy robber: an hasty spoiler).
For why, or ever the child shall have knowledge to say: Abi and Im, (that is father, and mother): shall the riches of Damascus and the substance of Samaria be taken away, thorow the king of the Assirians.
The LORD spake also unto me, saying:
For so much as the people refuseth the still running water of Silo, and put their delight in Razin and Romelie's son:
Behold the Lord shall bring mighty and great floods of water upon them: namely, the king of the Assirians with all his power. Which shall pour out his furriousness upon every man, and run over all their banks.
And shall break in upon Iuda, increasing in power, till he get him by the throat. He shall fill also the wideness of thy land with his broad wings, O Emmanuel.
¶ Go together ye people, and gather you, hearken to all ye of far countries. Muster you, and gather you: muster you and gather you,
take your counsel together, yet must your counsel come to nought: go in hand withal, yet shall it not prosper. Except Emmanuel: (that is God) be with us.
For the LORD chastised me, and took me by the hand, and warned me, saying unto me: that I should not walk in the ways of this people. He said moreover:
round with none of them, whosoever say: yonder people are bound together. Nevertheless fear them not, neither be afraid of them,
but sanctify the LORD of Hosts, let him be your fear and dread.
For he is the sanctifying, and stone to stumble at, the rock to fall upon, a snare and net to both the houses: to Israel, and the inhabiters of Ierusalem.
And many shall stumble, fall, and be broken upon him: yea they shall be snared and taken.
¶ Now lay the witness together (said the Lord) and seal the law with my disciples.
Thus I wait upon the LORD that hath turned his face from the house of Iacob, and I look unto him.
But lo, as for me, and the children which the LORD hath given me: we are a token and a wonder in Israel, for the LORD of Hosts' sake, which dwelleth upon the hill of Sion.
And therefore if they say unto you: ask counsel at the soothsayers, witches, charmers and conjurers, then make them this answer: Is there a people any where, that asketh not counsel at his God: whether it be concerning the dead, or the living?
If any man want light, let him look upon the law and the testimony whether they speak not after this meaning.
If he do not this he stumbleth and suffereth hunger. And if he suffer hunger, he is out of patience, and blasphemeth his king and his God. Then looketh he upward, and downward to the earth,
and behold, there is trouble and darkness vexation is round about him, and the cloud of error. And out of such adversity, shall he not escape.
Praise the Everlasting Lord for His Faithful Word.