THE PROPHESIED

By Juleon Schins

  A 'gospel harmony' is a private compilation of gospels. ­ The writer of a gospel harmony is like a disc-jockey who presents undistorted music fragments: he chooses his own order of presentation, which may differ from the composer's, but the music fragments themselves are unaltered. Intercalated q

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookTrail Publishing
• Release date: Sep 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781637677902

Juleon Schins

Juleon Schins is a Physicist

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Introduction

The present compilation contains a gospel harmony with, intercalated, pertinent prophecies of the Old Testament.

A ‘gospel harmony’ is a private compilation of the four gospels into a single account. More technically: a non-canonical selection and ordering of canonical gospel fragments. The writer of a gospel harmony is like a disc-jockey who presents undistorted music fragments: he chooses his own order of presentation, which differs from the musicians’, but the music fragments themselves are unaltered.

Gospel harmonies always serve a specific purpose, freely determined by the writer. The gospel harmony presented here has the specific purpose of showing how prophecies ‘work’. Prophets never wrote, Then and there Jesus will do this and that. As simplistic as that may sound, many contemporary scholars dismiss prophecies for not meeting this demand.

As this book is not a theoretical treatise on the nature of prophecies, it is up to the reader to find out how prophecies ‘work’: This book only provides the ‘raw material’, that is to say, the prophecies in their immediate context.

As prophecies relate to Jesus’ acts, more than to his teaching, this harmony largely omits the parables. On the other hand, an intercalated Old-Testament quote is more elaborate than just the single cross reference (which one usually finds annotated in the margin of a printed Bible). Together with the footnotes, these elaborate quotes of Old-Testament passages should provide the reader with the prophecies’ immediate context.

It is crucial to realize that all prophecies are contained in a single collection of books, as is the Hebrew Bible. For such a collection of books, there is always a tiny probability that a passage can be interpreted in a messianic sense: as tiny as the fraction of ancient documents containing messianic prophecies. The probability that one finds two in the Hebrew Bible is significantly smaller: The square of that tiny fraction, to be precise. The probability that one finds several hundreds of such prophecies in the same Hebrew Bible is that tiny fraction to the power of several hundreds. Of course, not every sentence in the Hebrew Bible is a messianic prophecy. For a sentence to qualify as a messianic prophecy, its content should be realized historically in the life of Christ.

For all Jews living between Moses and Christ, messianic prophecies presented two basically incomprehensible aspects. It is good to bear these in mind, as in hindsight they may seem trivial, while being everything but trivial. The first incomprehensible aspect of messianic prophecies was the chasm between triumphant and ignominious prophecies, which could hardly apply to one and the same person. The second one related to the nature of that person: was he a human being, or something else? In evaluating the prophecies, the reader should keep in mind how uncomfortable it is, for a prophetic writer, to predicate all these seemingly contradictory categories to a single person.

One may distinguish three main categories of prophecies. From strongest to weakest, these are messianic prophecies, types, and parallels.

Messianic prophecies predict historic occurrences in the life of Christ. They do so in a unique way, which is sometimes difficult to grasp. On one hand, they are veiled, in the sense that the receiver of the prophetic words does not necessarily realize their prophetic nature, let alone their messianic content. On the other hand, they are literal, for they apply in the most literal sense to the prophesied event.

Types are situations in the life of righteous persons (not necessarily prophets) in the Old Testament, which prefigure an analogous situation in the life of Christ. Well-known types are Abraham and Isaac. Abraham (type of the heavenly Father) sacrifices his only son Isaac (type of God the Son) for his people to inherit the divine promises. Other well-known types are Joseph (son of Jacob) and Moses. An authoritative distinction between Messianic prophecies and Types is due to Jesus Himself, as He sometimes quotes Messianic prophecies that at first sight do not seem to be prophecies at all.[83b]

Parallels are events in the Old Testament, which prefigure an analogous event in the life of Christ. Parallels do not require a context, as do types, and their subjects are not necessarily righteous.

As a guide for the reader, only New-Testament quotes are boxed, against a light-grey background. Old-Testament prophecies are labeled as messianic [M], type [T], or parallel [P] — non-prophetic quotes, labeled [E], refer to the Mosaic Law, which the gospel writer assumed to be known to the readership. The gospel fragments have been numbered consecutively. There is an extensive apparatus of referencing, which is meant to connect Old-Testament prophecies with (New-Testament) occurrences in the life of Christ. Gospel fragments only contain references to the Old Testament, and Old-Testament fragments only contain references to the gospels. These references are clearly distinguishable: Numbers-only references [20] refer to the New Testament, and numbers-plus-letter references [20a] refer to the Old Testament. For this reason, all the Old-Testament quotes are numbered with at least an [a], whether or not followed by a [b]. This referencing system facilitates readers, who do not wish to read a full Old Testament-fragment, to read only the bolded words, which are followed by the reference in question. Stars in square brackets indicate footnotes.

The translation of the Bible is taken from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. As for the present purpose a literal translation of the Hebrew Bible is crucial, on very few occasions the NRSVCE translation is adapted, though never without duly informing the reader. Note that all Old-Testament quotes used by the gospel writers are taken from the Septuagint, which is a third century BC translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek by Hebrew scholars. For this reason, New-Testament quotes of the Old Testament often differ from recent translations of the Old Testament, including NRSVCE. The Hebrew Septuagint shows that, unlike Muslims, Jews believed that God does not have a preferred language, but uses that specific language which is understood by the recipient.

Appendix 0 provides different listings of all Bible fragments used in this Gospel Harmony. Appendices 1-9 propose academic solutions to typical difficulties of Christian catechesis.

Gospel Harmony

1a[M] Your throne endures forever (Psalm 45:1-9)

My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty.[28] In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you. Your throne is a throne of God: It endures forever and ever.[1][3][4][163][199] Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

1b[M] I was there beside him (Proverbs 8:1-31)

Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right; for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries. Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, before his works from then. From everlasting I have been established, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.[*] When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth — when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker;[1][3][4] and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race."

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[*] NRSVCE has The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. The Hebrew translation of the Masoretic text has ‘possessed’ (qa-na-ni) instead of ‘created’ in the first sentence, and ‘established’ (nis-sak-ti) instead of ‘set up’ in the second.

2a[E] Divisions of the Priests (1 Chronicles 24:1-19)

The divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. Along with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of ancestral houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the officers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of ancestral houses of the priests and of the Levites; one ancestral house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar. The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,[2] the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. These had as their appointed duty in their service to enter the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

2b[E] Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1-16)

You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. It shall be one cubit long, and one cubit wide; it shall be square, and shall be two cubits high; its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, and its sides all around and its horns; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. And you shall make two golden rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall hold the poles with which to carry it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall place it in front of the curtain that is above the ark of the covenant, in front of the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall offer it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall offer it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.[2] You shall not offer unholy incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. Once a year Aaron shall perform the rite of atonement on its horns. Throughout your generations he shall perform the atonement for it once a year with the blood of the atoning sin offering. It is most holy to the Lord. The Lord spoke to Moses: When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, at registration all of them shall give a ransom for their lives to the Lord, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered. This is what each one who is registered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.[99] Each one who is registered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you bring this offering to the Lord to make atonement for your lives. You shall take the atonement money from the Israelites and shall designate it for the service of the tent of meeting; before the Lord it will be a reminder to the Israelites of the ransom given for your lives.

2c[M] I will send you Elijah (Malachi 4:5)

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.[2]

2d[M] Messenger (Malachi 3:1-3)

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant[2][23][61][96] in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.

3a[M] Unsolicited Sign (Isaiah 7:10-17)

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the virgin is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.[3][4][5][**] He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah — the king of Assyria."

3b[M] Son of David (2 Samuel 7:1-17)

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent. Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you. But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.[3][10][72][155][163] When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

3c[M] Forevermore on your throne (Psalm 132:1-12)

O Lord, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured; how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, I will not enter my house or get into my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob. We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool. Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy. For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one. The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne."[3][163]

3d[M] Today I have begotten you (Psalm 2:1-12)

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you.[3][71][96][4][22] Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel." Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled.

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[**] NRSVCE translates ‘young woman’: see appendix 4.

4a[M] Protoevangelium (Genesis 3:1-24)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die’. But the serpent said to the woman, You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent tricked me, and I ate. The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."[***][113][216] To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to the man he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever — therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.[4][****] He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

4b[M] Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 60:1-18)

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.[4][28][151] Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall be acceptable on my altar, and I will glorify my glorious house. Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? For the coastlands shall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from far away, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you down, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. Your gates shall always be open; day and night they shall not be shut, so that nations shall bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify where my feet rest. The descendants of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. You shall suck the milk of nations, you shall suck the breasts of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will appoint Peace as your overseer and Righteousness as your taskmaster.[59][112][174] Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

4d[M] The Future Glory of the Temple (Haggai 2:1-9)

In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.[4]

4e[E] Show me your glory (Exodus 33:17-20)

The Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. Moses said, Show me your glory, I pray. And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But, he said, you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live".[4]

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[***] This verse is called the ‘Protoevangelium’, because it prophesies a definitive defeat of the devil, who just proved victorious over Adam and Eve (see appendix 3). The prophecy will be realized in the Messiah. The devil’s offspring striking the heel of Eve’s, refers to the Pharisees causing Jesus’ passion.

[****] These lines of Genesis contain the essence of original sin (see appendix 3). Note the sad cynicism in the sentence: Then the Lord God said, See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever."

5a[M] A stone one strikes against (Isaiah 8:1-15)

Then the Lord said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz,[*******][216] and have it attested for me by reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the child knows how to call ‘My father’ or ‘My mother’, the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria. The Lord spoke to me again: Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah; therefore, the Lord is bringing up against it the mighty flood waters of the River, the king of Assyria and all his glory; it will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks; it will sweep on into Judah as a flood, and, pouring over, it will reach up to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel. Band together, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed! Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for