DAY 43 – II Nephi 9:39-81 (Thursday, 2/28)

39 Moreover, the word of the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalal-hash-baz.
40 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
41 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalal-hash-baz.
42 For behold, the child shall not have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
43 The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,
44 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
45 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
46 And he shall pass through Judah; and he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
47 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
48 Take counsel together and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
49 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
50 Say ye not, a confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, a confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
51 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
52 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
53 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
54 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
55 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
56 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.
57 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to hear from the dead?
58 To the law and to the testimony: and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
59 And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
60 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble, and darkness, dimness of anguish, and shall be driven to darkness.
61 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict by the way of the Red Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations.
62 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
63 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
64 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor.
65 For every battle of the warrior with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
66 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
67 Of the increase of government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
68 The Lord sent his word unto Jacob and it hath lighted upon Israel.
69 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
70 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
71 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
72 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
73 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.
74 Therefore, will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day.
75 The ancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
76 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
77 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.
78 For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forests, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
79 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother.
80 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
81 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand stretched out still.