¹ And some of the ancients of Israel came to me, and sat before me.

² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

³ Son of man, these men have placed their uncleannesses in their hearts, and have set up before their face the stumblingblock of their iniquity : and shall I answer when they inquire of me?

⁴ Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Man, man of the house of Israel that shall place his uncleannesses in his heart, and set up the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet inquiring of me by him: I the Lord will answer him according to the multitude of his uncleannesses:

⁵ That the house of Israel may be caught in their own heart, with which they have departed from me through all their idols.

⁶ Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Be converted, and depart from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷ For every man of the house of Israel, and every stranger among the proselytes in Israel, if he separate himself from me, and place his idols in his heart, and set the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and come to the prophet to inquire of me by him: I the Lord will answer him by myself.

⁸ And I will set my face against that man, and will make him an example, and a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹ And when the prophet shall err, and speak a word: I the Lord have deceived that prophet: and I will stretch forth my hand upon him, and will cut him off from the midst of my people Israel.

¹⁰ And they shall bear their iniquity: according to the iniquity of him that inquireth, so shall the iniquity of the prophet be.

¹¹ That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, nor be polluted with all their transgressions: but may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

¹³ Son of man, when a land shall sin against me, so as to transgress grievously, I will stretch forth my hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof: and I will send famine upon it, and will destroy man and beast out of it.

¹⁴ And if these three men, Noe, Daniel, and Job, shall be in it: they shall deliver their own souls by their justice, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹⁵ And if I shall bring mischievous beasts also upon the land to waste it, and it be desolate, so that there is none that can pass because of the beasts:

¹⁶ If these three men shall be in it, as I live, saith the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters: but they only shall be delivered, and the land shall be made desolate.

¹⁷ Or if I bring the sword upon that land, and say to the sword: Pass through the land: and I destroy man and beast out of it:

¹⁸ And these three men be in the midst thereof: as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they themselves alone shall be delivered.

¹⁹ Or if I also send the pestilence upon that land, and pour out my indignation upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:

²⁰ And Noe, and Daniel, and Job be in the midst thereof: as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter: but they shall only deliver their own souls by their justice.

²¹ For thus saith the Lord: Although I shall send in upon Jerusalem my four grievous judgments, the sword, and the famine, and the mischievous beasts, and the pestilence, to destroy out of it man and beast,

²² Yet there shall be left in it some that shall be saved, who shall bring away their sons and daughters: behold they shall come among you, and you shall see their way, and their doings: and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, in all things that I have brought upon it.

²³ And they shall comfort you, when you shall see their ways, and their doings : and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.

¹ Yahweh said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'

² and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

³ I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.'

⁴ For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."

⁵ Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,

⁶ "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

⁷ now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.

⁸ It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.

⁹ Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."

¹¹ For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹² "Don't say, 'A conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy!' neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.

¹³ Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

¹⁴ He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured."

¹⁶ Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

¹⁷ I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.

¹⁹ When they tell you, "Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:" shouldn't a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

²⁰ Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

²¹ They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

²² and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.