He said, "Go and tell these people: 'Listen continually, but don't understand! Look continually, but don't perceive!'

Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed."

Tell him, 'Make sure you stay calm! Don't be afraid! Don't be intimidated by these two stubs of smoking logs, or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

The Lord told me, "Take a large tablet and inscribe these words on it with an ordinary stylus: 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.'

"These people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah.

Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people:

"Do not say, 'Conspiracy,' every time these people say the word. Don't be afraid of what scares them; don't be terrified.

you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: "Look how the oppressor has met his end! Hostility has ceased!

Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills, or like dead thistles before a strong gale.

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, demolished its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins.

When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Even these men stagger because of wine, they stumble around because of beer -- priests and prophets stagger because of beer, they are confused because of wine, they stumble around because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, they totter while making legal decisions.

For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to these people.

Therefore, listen to the Lord's word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem!

The sovereign master says, "These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.

Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people -- an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations."

For these are rebellious people -- they are lying children, children unwilling to obey the Lord's law.

Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! Not one of these creatures will be missing, none will lack a mate. For the Lord has issued the decree, and his own spirit gathers them.

But the chief adviser said, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!"

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?'"

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'"

Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: 'This is what the Lord says: "Don't be afraid because of the things you have heard -- these insults the king of Assyria's servants have hurled against me.

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men say? Where do they come from?" Hezekiah replied, "They come from the distant land of Babylon."

Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing.

But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits and held captive in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, "Bring that back!"

"Don't remember these earlier events; don't recall these former events.

Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you to be my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you!

I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

You said, 'I will rule forever as permanent queen!' You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out.

Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets.

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, 'My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.'

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them announced these things? The Lord's ally will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians.

Then you will think to yourself, 'Who bore these children for me? I was bereaved and barren, dismissed and divorced. Who raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these children come from?'"

These double disasters confronted you. But who feels sorry for you? Destruction and devastation, famine and sword. But who consoles you?

Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love; they, they are the object of your devotion. You pour out liquid offerings to them, you make an offering. Because of these things I will seek vengeance.

Who are these who float along like a cloud, who fly like doves to their shelters?

These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars.

They say, 'Keep to yourself! Don't get near me, for I am holier than you!' These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog's neck; the one who presents an offering includes pig's blood with it; the one who offers incense also praises an idol. They have decided to behave this way; they enjoy these disgusting practices.