# 2 Nephi 18

*Paraphrase*

### A Sign for the Nations

The Lord spoke to me again: “Take a large scroll and write on it in clear letters: ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’” I called two reliable witnesses to record it—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah. Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before this child is old enough to say ‘father’ or ‘mother,’ the king of Assyria will carry off the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria.”

### The Flood from Assyria

The Lord spoke to me again: “Because these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and celebrate Rezin and Remaliah’s son instead, the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria with all his glory. It will overflow all its channels and sweep over all its banks. It will surge through Judah, flooding and overflowing, rising up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the width of your land, O Immanuel.“

Rally yourselves, you nations, but you’ll be shattered. Listen closely, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle—you’ll be shattered. Arm yourselves—you’ll be shattered. Make your plans, but they’ll fall apart. Give your orders, but they won’t stand—because God is with us.

### Don’t Fear What They Fear

The Lord grabbed hold of me with his powerful hand and warned me not to follow the way of these people: “Don’t call conspiracy everything these people call conspiracy. Don’t fear what they fear. Don’t be terrified. Honor the Lord of hosts as holy. Let him be the one you fear. Let him be the one you dread. He will be a sanctuary—but also a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that trips them up, for both houses of Israel. He’ll be a trap and a snare for the people of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over him. They’ll fall and be broken, trapped and captured.”

### Wait for the Lord

“Preserve this testimony. Seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.” I will wait for the Lord, even though he’s hiding his face from Jacob’s descendants. I will put my hope in him. Here I stand with the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

### Reject the Darkness

When people tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people seek their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Go back to God’s instruction and testimony. If people don’t speak according to this word, it’s because there’s no light in them.

They’ll wander through the land, oppressed and starving. When hunger overwhelms them, they’ll lose their temper and curse their king and their God, looking upward. Then they’ll look down at the earth and see only trouble and darkness, terrible distress—and they’ll be thrust into utter darkness.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/2-nephi/18)*
