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.

Woe to the crown of arrogance, to the inebriated of Ephraim, and to the falling flower, the glory of his exultation, to those who were at the top of the very fat valley, staggering from wine.

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.

Behold, the Lord is powerful and steadfast, like a storm of hail, like a crushing whirlwind, like the force of many waters, inundating, sent forth over a spacious land.

3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden down by feet,

The arrogant crown of the inebriated of Ephraim will be trampled underfoot.

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 falling flower, the glory of his exultation, who is at the summit of the fat valley, will be like a premature fruit before the ripeness of autumn, which, when the onlooker beholds it, as soon he takes it in his hand, he will devour 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, the Lord of hosts will be the crown of glory and the wreath of exultation for the remnant 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 he will be the spirit of judgment for those who sit in judgment, and the strength of those who return from war to the gates.

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.

Yet truly, these also have been ignorant due to wine, and they have gone astray due to inebriation. The priest and the prophet have been ignorant because of inebriation. They have been absorbed by wine. They have staggered in drunkenness. They have not known the One who sees. They have been ignorant of judgment.

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

For all the tables have been filled with vomit and filth, so much so that there was no place left.

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 teach knowledge? And to whom will he grant an understanding of what is heard? To those who have been weaned from the milk, who have been pulled away from the breasts.

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

So then: command, and command again; command, and command again; expect, and expect again; a little here, and a little there.

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

For with the speech of lips and with a different language, he will speak 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,

He said to them: “This is my rest. Refresh the weary,” and, “This is my refreshment.” And yet they were unwilling to listen.

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.

And so, the word of the Lord to them will be: “Command, and command again; command, and command again; expect, and expect again; a little here, and a little there,” so that they may go forward and fall backward, and so that they may be broken and ensnared and captured.

14 Therefore, hear a word of YHWH, you men of scorning, Ruling this people that [is] in Jerusalem.

Because of this, listen to the word of the Lord, you mocking men, who lord it over my people who are at 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)

For you have said: “We struck a deal with death, and we formed a pact with Hell. When the inundating scourge passes through, it will not overwhelm us. For we have placed our hope in lies, and we are protected by what is false.” (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 reason, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will set a stone within the foundations of Zion, a tested stone, a cornerstone, a precious stone, which has been established in the foundation: whoever trusts in him need not hurry.

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 establish judgment in weights, and justice in measures. And a hailstorm will overturn hope in what is false; and waters will inundate its protection.

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 your deal with death will be abolished, and your pact with Hell will not stand. When the inundating scourge passes through, you will be trampled down by it. (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 it passes through, it will take you away. For, at first light of morning, it will pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone will make you understand what you hear.

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 has been narrowed, so much so that one alone would fall out, and the short blanket is not able to cover two.

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 stand, just as at the mountain of divisions. He will be angry, just as in the valley which is in Gibeon, so that he may accomplish his work, his strange work, so that he may complete his work, his work which is foreign even to him.

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, do not be willing to mock, lest your chains be tightened. For I have heard, from the Lord, the God of hosts, about the consummation and the abridgement concerning the entire earth.

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

Pay close attention, and listen to my voice! Attend and hear my eloquence!

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

Would the plowman, after plowing all day so that he may sow, instead cut open and hoe his soil?

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?

Will he not, when he has made the surface level, sow coriander, and scatter cumin, and plant wheat in rows, and barley, and millet, and vetch in their places?

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

For he will be instructed in judgment; his God will teach him.

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 coriander cannot be threshed with a saw, and a cartwheel cannot revolve over cumin. Instead, coriander is shaken out with a stick, and cumin with a staff.

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.

But grain for bread must be crushed. Truly, the thresher cannot thresh it unceasingly, and the cartwheel can neither disrupt it, nor break it with its surface.

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

And this has gone forth from the Lord, the God of hosts, so that he may accomplish his miraculous plan and magnify justice.