Isaiah's Son as a Sign to the People
1 The Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: ‘Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.’ 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses.”
3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, “Name him ‘Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.’ 4 Before the boy is old enough to say ‘Mamma’ and ‘Daddy,’ all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
The Emperor of Assyria Is Coming
5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, “Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything.”
God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land.
9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us.
The Lord Warns the Prophet
11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 “Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap.”
Warning against Consulting the Dead
16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.
18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel.
19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, “After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living.”
20 You are to answer them, “Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums—what they tell you cannot keep trouble away.”
A Time of Trouble
21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.
Kuthukila kwe Baasiriya
1 Yahwe bakati kundili, “Tola tjikwalilo tjikulu ukwale nge peni uti, ‘Kulibilidza kutapa, Kutolela tjinyolotjo.’ 2 Ngono atola batendeki bangu banogalikamoyo Uriya mpirisiti na Zekariya nkololo wa Jeberekiya.”
3 Ngono angina ku nkadzi wangu we nlebesambeli ngono kazwisenga katshibama mwana we tjiyisana. Yahwe bakandidwa bakati, “Untumile zina uti Maheri Shalali Hashi Bhazi. 4 Ngoti kowoti mbisana ihwoyu asathu kaziba kuti, ‘Tate bangu’ kene ‘Mme bangu,’ fumwa ye Damasiko ne thundu yatapiwa ye Samariya ikasengwa ndi mambo we Asiriya.”
5 Yahwe bakalebeleka nami kakale ngono bakati, 6 “Ngoti bathu ibaba bakalamba vula ye Shiloa inowunga ngotebama, ngono bakashathila Rezini ne nkololo wa Remaliya, 7 ndizo bona, Yahwe banozhisa mikubila yakasima ye Gwizi gwe Yufuratesi. Mambo we Asiriya ne simba lile lose. Gowozhadza hwobana dzago dzose vula ikabuya ikatebukila kuzhe kwe phili dzadzo. 8 Gowowunga gutebukila mu Juda vula ikula kwayinomila nthu pa ntshibha. Gowowunga gukafukidza bupabi gwe shango iyo, iwe Imanuwele.”
9 Ibeni ne nshanganyila imwi bathu, koga mowopaladziwa!
Hwililani imwi be shango dzikule.
Muzwilulwamisileni ngwa, mutemeke mafupa.
Lulwamisilani ngwa mutemeke mafupa!
10 Thamani ndongoloso dzenyu, koga adzingamudwile tjimwe.
Thamani ndongoloso dzenyu, koga akutowomudwila nge tjimwe,
ngoti Ndzimu unaswi.
11 Ngoti Yahwe bakalebeleka nami nge masimba benditjemela beti ndisitongoyenda mu zila ye bathu ibaba, bakati, 12 “Usitongotola tjimwe ne tjimwe bathu ibaba tjabanoti nshanganyila we bupanduki uti nshanganyila, ne tjabanotja usitongolobgwa nge ana. 13 Yahwe Masimbawose ndibo bawakafanila tola bakayengemala, ndibo bawakafanila utje, babe ibo bauna ana nabo. 14 Banowobe bugalo gwakayengemala, ku ng'umba idzedzi mbili dze Iziraela bakabe bgwe linokutha bathu, shongwe inothama kuti bawe. Ku bathu be Jerusalema banowobe silaha ne bhuzhu. 15 Bunji gwabo gowokuthiwa gukawa gukavunika, banoteyiwa bakabhatshigwa.”
16 Sungila butendeki utjwayile nlayo mu badiyiwana bangu. 17 Ndowolindila Yahwe, ibo bakasumbikila nsha wa Jakubo buso gwabo, ngono ndowobagalabgwe. 18 Imi ndipano ne bana bandakapiwa ndi Yahwe. Ti zwilakidzo ne batjenesi mu Iziraela kudwa kuna Yahwe Masimbawose, ibo banogala mu Dombo le Ziyoni.
19 Ha bathu beti bhuzwani ng'anga ne baloyi banonyebezela be mbumburudza, apa bathu abangabhuzwe Ndzimu wabo kene? Apa kungabhuzwiwa bafi ngekwe banotjila kene?
20 Ngakuyendiwe ku nlayo ne ku butendeki. Ha basingalebe tjinoyendidzana ne dama ileli abana tjedza.
21 Banowoyendayenda mu shango bali mu buyendasi bukulu bana zhala, banowoti bafa ne zhala bakagwadza moyo bakalinga pezhugwi bakatuka mambo wabo ne Ndzimu wabo. 22 Banowolinga pasi bakabona buyendasi koga ne zhalima ne tjimo tjinotjisa, ngono banowolashigwa mu zhalima lakati zwititi.