Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride, of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious ornament, which is on the eminence of the fat valley of those who are struck down by wine!
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.
2 Behold, [it cometh] mighty and strong from the Lord, as a tempest of hail, a storm of destruction; as a tempest of mighty overflowing waters, will he cast it down to the earth with force.
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.
3 Under feet shall be trodden the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim:
The crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, shall be beaten down with the hands and with the feet.
4 And the fading flower of his glorious ornament, which is on the eminence of the fat valley, shall be as its early ripe fruit before the summer; which one, when he just seeth it, while it is scarcely in his hand, hastily devoureth.
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.
5 On that day will the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
In that day the Lord of hosts shall be the crown of hope, the woven [crown] of glory, to the remnant of the people.
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to those that drive back the battle to the gate [of the enemy].
They shall be left in the spirit of judgment for judgment, and for the strength of them that hinder slaying.
7 But these also are now stumbling through wine, and reeling through strong drink: priest and prophet are stumbling through strong drink, they are overpowered with wine, they reel through strong drink; they stumble in [divine] vision, they are unsteady in giving judgment.
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.
8 For all tables are full of vomit of filthiness, there is no place [clean].
A curse shall devour this counsel, for this [is their] counsel for the sake of covetousness.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he give to understand doctrine? those that are weaned from the milk, those that are taken from the breasts.
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.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
Expect you affliction on affliction, hope upon hope: yet a little, [and] yet a little,
11 For [as] with stammering lips and a foreign tongue will he speak to this people;
by reason of the contemptuous [words] of the lips, by means of another language: for they shall speak to this people, saying to them,
12 When he said unto them, This is the rest, cause ye the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; but they would not hear.
This is the rest to him that is hungry, and this is the calamity: but they would not hear.
13 Therefore shall be unto them the word of the Lord, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; in order that they may go, and stumble backward, and be broken, and snared, and caught.
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.
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule this people that is in Jerusalem.
Therefore hear you the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and you princes of this people that is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, “We have entered into a covenant with death, and with the nether world have we made an agreement; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth by, shall not come at us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we sought a hiding-place.” (Sheol h7585)
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)
16 Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I have laid in Zion as a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone, well founded: he that believeth will not make haste.
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.
17 And I will make of justice a measuring line, and of righteousness a plummet: and the hail shall sweep off the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place against the waters shall these flood away.
And I will cause judgment [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,
18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with the nether world shall not have permanence; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth by—then shall ye be trodden down by it. (Sheol h7585)
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)
19 As often as it passeth by shall it take you; for morning by morning shall it pass by, by day and by night; and the mere understanding of the report shall cause terror.
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,
20 For the bed shall be too short for [a man] to stretch himself out [on it]: and the covering too narrow to wrap himself in.
you that are distressed; we can’t fight, but we are ourselves too weak for you to be gathered.
21 For as on mount Perazim will the Lord rise up, as in the valley of Gib'on will he be wroth, that he may do his work, his singular work; and to accomplish his labor, his strange labor.
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.
22 And now be ye no longer scornful, lest your bonds be made strong; for as completed and fully decreed have I heard it from the Lord Eternal of hosts over all the earth.
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.
23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; listen, and hear my speech.
Listen, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.
24 Doth the ploughman plough all the time to sow? doth he open and harrow his ground [continually]?
Will the plowman plow all the day? or will he prepare the seed beforehand, before he tills the ground?
25 Is it not so? that, when he hath made level its surface he scattereth fennel, and streweth about cumin, and planteth the wheat in rows, and barley on its assigned [place], and millet on its proper spot?
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?
26 For his God instructed him rightly, taught him [so to do].
So you shall be chastened by the judgment of your God, and shall rejoice.
27 Truly not with a threshing instrument is fennel threshed, and a wagon-wheel is not turned about upon cumin; but fennel is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a stick.
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;
28 Bread-corn is crushed; but not for ever doth [man] keep threshing it; and though he drive over it the wheel of his wagon and his horses, he will not [thereby] crush it.
for I will not be angry with you for ever, neither shall the voice of my anger crush you.
29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts; wonderful is he in counsel, and excellent in [his] wise deeds.
And these signs came forth from the Lord of hosts. Take counsel, exalt vain comfort.
