Esias 28

1 Woe to the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, the flower that has fallen from the glory of the top of the fertile mountain, they that are drunken without wine.

Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!

2 Behold, the anger of the Lord is strong and severe, as descending hail where there is no shelter, violently descending; as a great body of water sweeping away the soil, he shall make rest for the land.

See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.

3 The crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, shall be beaten down with the hands and with the feet.

The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;

4 And the fading flower of the glorious hope on the top of the high mountain shall be as the early fig; he that sees it, before he takes it into his hand, will desire to swallow it down.

And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.

5 In that day the Lord of hosts shall be the crown of hope, the woven [crown] of glory, to the remnant of the people.

In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;

6 They shall be left in the spirit of judgement for judgement, and for the strength of them that hinder slaying.

And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.

7 For these have trespassed through wine; they have erred through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are mad through strong drink, they are swallowed up by reason of wine, they have staggered through drunkenness; they have erred: this is [their] vision.

And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.

8 A curse shall devour this counsel, for this [is their] counsel for the sake of covetousness.

For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.

9 To whom have we reported evils? and to whom have we reported a message? [even to those] that are weaned from the milk, who are drawn from the breast.

To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?

10 Expect you affliction on affliction, hope upon hope: yet a little, [and] yet a little,

For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.

11 by reason of the contemptuous [words] of the lips, by means of another language: for they shall speak to this people, saying to them,

No, but with broken talk, and with a strange tongue, he will give his word to this people:

12 This is the rest to him that is hungry, and this is the calamity: but they would not hear.

To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.

13 Therefore the oracle of God shall be to them affliction on affliction, hope on hope, yet a little, [and] yet a little, that they may go and fall backward; and they shall be crushed and shall be in danger, and shall be taken.

For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.

14 Therefore hear you the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and you princes of this people that is in Jerusalem.

Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:

15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if the rushing storm should pass, it shall not come upon us: we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood shall we be protected: (Sheol h7585)

Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue: (Sheol h7585)

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, [even] the Lord, Behold, I lay for the foundations of Sion a costly stone, a choice, a corner-stone, a precious [stone], for its foundations; and he that believes [on him] shall by no means be ashamed.

For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.

17 And I will cause judgement [to be] for hope, and my compassion shall be for [just] measures, and you that trust vainly in falsehood [shall fall]: for the storm shall by no means pass by you,

And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.

18 except it also take away your covenant of death, and your trust in Hades shall by no means stand: if the rushing storm should come upon you, you shall be beaten down by it. (Sheol h7585)

And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them. (Sheol h7585)

19 Whenever it shall pass by, it shall take you; morning by morning it shall pass by in the day, and in the night there shall be an evil hope. Learn to hear,

Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.

20 you that are distressed; we can’t fight, but we are ourselves too weak for you to be gathered.

For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.

21 The Lord shall rise up as a mountain of ungodly [men], and shall be in the valley of Gabaon; he shall perform his works with wrath, [even] a work of bitterness, and his wrath shall deal strangely, and his destruction shall be strange.

For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work — strange is his work; and give effect to his act — unnatural is his act.

22 Therefore do not you rejoice, neither let your bands be made strong; for I have heard of works finished and cut short by the Lord of hosts, which he will execute upon all the earth.

And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.

23 Listen, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.

Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.

24 Will the ploughman plough all the day? or will he prepare the seed beforehand, before he tills the ground?

Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed?

25 Does he not, when he has levelled the surface thereof, then sow the small black poppy, or cumin, and afterward sow wheat, and barley, and millet, and bread-corn in your borders?

When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?

26 So you shall be chastened by the judgement of your God, and shall rejoice.

For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things.

27 For the black poppy is not cleansed with harsh treatment, nor will a wagon-wheel pass over the cumin; but the black poppy is threshed with a rod, and the cumin shall be eaten with bread;

For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.

28 for I will not be angry with you for ever, neither shall the voice of my anger crush you.

Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.

29 And these signs came forth from the Lord of hosts. Take counsel, exalt vain comfort.

This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.