Isaiah 28

1 Woe [to] the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory, That [is] on the head of the fat valley of the broken down of 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, a mighty and strong one [is] to the Lord, As a storm of hail—a destructive shower, As an inundation of mighty waters overflowing, He cast down to the earth with the hand.

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 proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden down by 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 beauty of his glory That [is] on the head of the fat valley, Has been as its first-fruit before summer, That its beholder sees; He swallows it while it [is] yet in his hand.

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 YHWH of Hosts is For a crown of beauty, and for a circlet of glory, To the remnant of His 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 And for a spirit of judgment To him who is sitting in the judgment, And for might [to] those turning back the battle to the gate.

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

7 And even these have erred through wine, And have wandered through strong drink, Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, They have been swallowed up of the wine, They wandered because of the strong drink, They have erred in seeing, They have stumbled judicially.

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 For all tables have been full of vomit, Filth—without place!

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

9 By whom does He teach knowledge? And by whom does He cause to understand the report? The weaned from milk, the removed from breasts,

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 For rule on rule, rule on rule, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,

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

11 For by scorned lip, and by another tongue, Does He speak to this people.

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

12 To whom He has said, “This [is] the rest, give rest to the weary, And this—the refreshing”: And they have not been willing to 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 And to whom a word of YHWH has been, Rule on rule, rule on rule, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there, So that they go and have stumbled backward, And been broken, and snared, and captured.

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 a word of YHWH, you men of scorning, Ruling 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 death, And we have made a provision with Sheol, An overflowing scourge, when it passes over, Does not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And have been hidden in falsehood.” (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 said Lord YHWH: “Behold, I am laying a foundation in Zion, A stone—a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a settled foundation, He who is believing does not make haste.

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 have put judgment for a line, And righteousness for a plummet, And hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, And waters overflow the secret hiding place.

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 And your covenant with death has been annulled, And your provision with Sheol does not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passes over, Then you have been to it for a treading-place. (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 From the fullness of its passing over it takes you, For it passes over morning by morning, By day and by night, And it has been only a trembling to consider the report.

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 For the bed has been shorter Than to stretch one’s self out in, And the covering has been narrower Than to wrap one’s self up in.

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 For as YHWH rises [at] Mount Perazim, As He is troubled [at] the valley in Gibeon, To do His work—strange [is] His work, And to do His deed—strange [is] His deed.”

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 And now, do not show yourselves scorners, Lest your bands are strong, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, YHWH of Hosts, [Is] for all the land.

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 Give ear, and hear my voice, Attend, and hear my saying:

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

24 Does the plowman plow the whole day to sow? He opens and harrows his ground!

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

25 Has he not, if he has made its face level, Then scattered fitches, and sprinkles cumin, And has placed the principal wheat, And the appointed barley, And the rye [in] its own border?

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 And his God instructs him for judgment, He directs him.

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

27 For fitches are not threshed with a sharp-pointed thing, And the wheel of a cart turned around on cumin, For fitches are beaten out with a staff, And cumin with a rod.

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 Bread-[grain] is beaten small, For he does not severely thresh it forever, Nor has a wheel of his cart crushed [it], Nor do his hooves beat it small.

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 Even this from YHWH of Hosts has gone out, He has made counsel wonderful, He has made wisdom great!

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