A reading from the book of Isaiah.

Then the Lord said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, belonging

to Mehir Shalau Hashbas, and I will get reliable witnesses, Yariah the priest, and Zechariah,

the son of Jabariah, to attest for me. And I went to the prophetess,

and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me,

call his name Mahir Shalau Hashbas, for before the boy knows how to cry, my father, or my mother,

the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.

The Lord spoke to me again, because this people has refused the waters of Shiloha that flow gently

and rejoice over resin and the son of Rimalaya.

Therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the river, mighty and many,

the king of Assyria in all his glory, and it will rise

over all its channels, and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah. It will overflow

and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breath of your land,

O Emmanuel. Be broken you peoples, and be shattered, give ear all you far countries, strap on you peoples and be shattered. Give ear all you far countries. Strap on your

armor and be shattered. Strap on your armor and be shattered. Take counsel together, but it will come to

nothing. Speak a word, but it will not stand. For God is with us. For the Lord spoke thus to me with

his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy,

and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.

Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread, and he will become

a sanctuary, and a stone of a fence, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare

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