1. Then God told me, “Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, ‘This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).’”
2-3. I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.
3-4. God told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”
5-8. God spoke to me again, saying:“Because this people has turned its backon the gently flowing stream of ShiloahAnd gotten all excited over Rezinand the son of Remaliah,I’m stepping in and facing them withthe wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,a river in flood, bursting its banks,Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,water up to your necks,A huge wingspan of a raging river,O Immanuel, spreading across your land.”