176. THE NECESSITY OF HOLDING FAST IN A

NATIONAL CRISIS

When it was reported to the house of David that Arameans were encamped in the territory of Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and of his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble before the wind.

But Jehovah said to Isaiah: 'Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the road to the Fuller's Field, and say to him, "Keep calm; have no fear; do not lose courage because of these two fag ends of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. For Aram with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah has formed this evil plot against you: Let us march against Judah and terrify and overpower it and set up there as ruler the son of Tabeel.'

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But this is what the Lord Jehovah declares:

Their plot shall not succeed.

For the capital of Aram is Damascus,

The ruler of Damascus Rezin,

The capital of Ephraim Samaria,

The ruler of Samaria Remaliah's son!

And Ephraim's power as a nation shall crumble.
But if you do not believe,

You surely shall not be upheld.'

Jehovah spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ‘Ask a sign of Jehovah your God; ask that it be performed either in the nether world or in heaven above.' But Ahaz replied, 'I will not ask, nor will I put Jehovah to the test.'

Then Isaiah said, 'Hear now, O house of David; is it not enough for you to exhaust the patience of men,

that you must weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold a young woman will give birth to a child and will name him Immanuel. Curds and honey will be his food until he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall know how to reject the bad and choose the good, the land of those kings whom you dread shall be abandoned. Jehovah will also bring upon you and upon your people and upon your family days such as have not been since Ephraim separated from Judah. At that time, if a man shall keep alive a young cow and two milk sheep, then, owing to the abundance of milk which they shall yield, he shall be able to live on curds, for curds and honey shall be the food of all who are left in the land. At that time wherever there used to be a thousand vines, each worth a silver piece, there shall be thorns and briers. Men will go there only with bow and arrows, for all the land shall be a thicket of thorns and briers. And for fear of the thorns and briers, you will not go out on the hills that used to be hoed, but they shall be a cattle-run and a sheep pasture.'

Then Jehovah said to me, 'Take a large tablet and write on it in legible characters:

SWIFT IS THE SPOIL, SPEEDY THE PREY

Also let trustworthy witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, attest the writing for me.'

Then my wife gave birth to a son, and Jehovah said, "Name him "Swift is the spoil, speedy the prey," for even before the boy knows how to cry, "My father" and "My mother," the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away as plunder by the king of Assyria.'

Jehovah also said to me:

'Because this people reject the gently flowing waters of
Shiloah,

And are overwhelmed with fear of Rezin and the son of
Remaliah,

I am bringing upon them the mighty and many waters
of the Euphrates,

Even the king of Assyria and all his proud hosts;

And it shall rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks,

It shall sweep on into Judah, a rushing flood, reaching up to the neck,

And its outstretching wings shall cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.'

Nothing remains but to bind up the evidence and entrust the teaching to the custody of my disciples; and I will wait for Jehovah, who has withdrawn his favor from the house of Jacob, and for him I will eagerly look. See: I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are signs and symbols in Israel from Jehovah of hosts who dwells in Mount Zion.

177. A PATRIOT'S EFFORTS TO AVERT A DISASTROUS ALLIANCE

In the year when the chief military commander sent by Sargon, king of Assyria, came and attacked Ashdod and captured it, Jehovah said, 'Just as my servant Isaiah has gone about half-clad and barefoot three years as a sign and a warning against Egypt and Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, half-clad and barefoot, with their bodies exposed. Then those who looked expectantly and boasted of Egypt shall be dismayed and shamed.

And the inhabitants of this coastland shall say at that time, "If this is the fate of those to whom we looked and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria, how then can we ourselves escape?"

178.

THE FATE OF RULERS WHO REFUSE TO LISTEN
TO GOOD COUNSEL

The rulers in Jerusalem stagger with wine and reel with drink,

Priest and prophet stagger with drink, confused with

wine,

They reel while they have a vision and totter in rendering decisions.

All tables are full of vomit-filth is in every place!

'To whom' [they say], 'would the prophet teach knowledge and explain the revelation?

To babes just weaned from the milk and drawn from their mothers' breasts?

He is always saying law upon law, law upon law,

Rule upon rule, rule upon rule, a bit here, a bit there!'

Therefore by men of a gibbering speech and foreign

accent

Jehovah will surely speak to this people, to whom he has said:

"This is the rest that you should give to those who are

weary;

This teaching is what brings true refreshing.' But they would not listen.

So Jehovah's message to them is law upon law, law upon

law,

Rule upon rule, rule upon rule, a bit here, a bit there.

Therefore hear Jehovah's message, you scornful men,
You who rule over this people that dwells in Jerusalem:

'Because you have said, "We have entered into a compact with death,

And with the realm of the dead we have made a solemn

agreement,

So that when the overwhelming scourge shall come, it shall not reach us,

For we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place."

Therefore the Lord Jehovah declares:

"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone that is tested,
A precious corner-stone as a firm foundation,
He who believes in me shall not be moved.
Justice I will make the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet.

But hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,

And waters shall overflow the hiding place;

And your covenant with death shall be annulled,
Your compact with the realm of the dead shall be

broken;

When over you passes the overwhelming scourge,

You shall be completely crushed by it.'

179. THE FOLLY OF TRUSTING IN HEATHEN ALLIANCES RATHER THAN GOD

'Ah, you rebellious sons,' Jehovah declares,
'Who carry out a plan that is not mine,
And conclude a treaty against my wish,
And so add sin to sin!

You go down to Egypt without my advice,
To find refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
And shelter under the shadow of Egypt.

The protection of Pharaoh shall be your shame,
The shelter under Egypt's shadow your confusion.

Now go, write it down, on tablet or in book inscribe it, That it may be evidence for all time to come,