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.

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower the glory of his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine.

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.

Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land.

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 the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.

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 fading flower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon as he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up.

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 the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue 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 judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate.

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.

But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment.

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

For all tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more 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.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts.

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

For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there.

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,

For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak 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 my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear.

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.

And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again: expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

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

Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is 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)

For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected. (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.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten.

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 set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection.

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 Sour league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. (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,

Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away: because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear.

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

For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.

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 shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him.

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 do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord the God of hosts a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth.

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

Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech.

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

Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground?

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?

Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds?

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

For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him.

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 gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a staff.

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

But bread corn shall be broken small: but the thrasher shall not thrash it for ever, neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it with its teeth.

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

This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.