Paul's Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^(A)revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(B)in Christ who fourteen years ago was ^(C)caught up to ^(D)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(E)God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into ^(F)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, ^(H)except of my weaknesses— ⁶ though if I should wish to boast, ^(I)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So ^(J)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^{[a] (K)}a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^(L)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ^8 (M)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, ^(N)“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(O)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^(P)the power of Christ may rest upon me. ^10 (Q)For the sake of Christ, then, ^(R)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^(S)when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(A)and write on it in common characters,^[a] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^{[b] 2} And ^(B)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(C)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^(D)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ^4 (E)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(F)wealth of ^(G)Damascus and the spoil of ^(H)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of ^(I)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(J)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(K)the waters of ^(L)the River,^[c] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(M)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸ and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^(N)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(O)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(P)O Immanuel.”

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(T)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call ^(U)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(V)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, ^(W)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a ^(X)sanctuary and ^(Y)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many ^(Z)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶ Bind up ^(AA)the testimony; ^(AB)seal the teaching^[g] among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will ^(AC)wait for the Lord, who is ^(AD)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ^18 (AE)Behold, I and ^(AF)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(AG)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(AH)the dead on behalf of the living? ^20 (AI)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(AJ)dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land,^[h] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[i] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ^22 (AK)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(AL)thick darkness.

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[j] But there will be no ^(AM)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(AN)brought into contempt the land of ^(AO)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(AP)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[k]

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Maskil^[a] of David.