Isaiah 28
1 Terrible things will happen to [Samaria city, the capital of Israel]! It is on a hill above a fertile valley; the people who live there, who get drunk by drinking too much wine, are very proud; it is a beautiful and glorious city, but some day that beauty will disappear like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up.
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 Listen to this: Yahweh will cause a great army to attack Samaria. Their soldiers will be like [SIM] a huge hailstorm [or] a very strong wind; they will be everywhere, like the water of a huge flood, and they will smash to the ground [the buildings in Samaria].
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 people of Samaria are proud, but everything that the drunks who live there think is wonderful/glorious will be trampled on by their enemies.
The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.
4 [Yes], Samaria is beautiful, set on a hill above a fertile valley, but that beauty will disappear like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up. Whenever someone sees a good fig at the beginning of the season [when figs become ripe], he quickly picks and eats it; [similarly, when the enemies of Israel see all the beautiful things in Samaria], [they will quickly conquer the city and take away all those things].
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 At that time, the Commander of the armies of angels will be [like] a glorious wreath of flowers for [us] Israeli people who are still alive [after being exiled].
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 He will cause our judges to want to do what is fair/just when they decide people’s cases. He will enable the soldiers who stand at the city gates to strongly defend [the city when our enemies attack it].
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 [But now, ] our leaders stagger/stumble because they have drunk a lot of wine and [other] alcoholic drinks. The priests and prophets also stagger because of drinking a lot of wine and other alcoholic drinks. They are not able to think right; they see visions but they cannot understand what they mean; they are unable to decide things correctly.
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 All their tables are covered with [their] vomit; filth is everywhere.
For all tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place.
9 They ridicule Yahweh saying, “Who does he think that he is teaching? Why is he talking to us like this? [Does he think that] we are little children who have recently been weaned?
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 [He continually tells us], ‘Do this, do that;’ first he tells us one rule, then another rule, he tells us only one line at a time.”
For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there.
11 So now, Yahweh will need to force them to listen to [Assyrians] speaking to them in a language that they do not understand.
For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people.
12 Yahweh told his people [long ago], “[This is] a place where you can rest; you are exhausted [from all your travels through the desert], but you will be able to rest [in this land].” But they refused to pay attention to what he said.
To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear.
13 So Yahweh continues to tell the people of Samaria, one line at a time, “Do this, do that,” first one rule and then another rule. But because [of their ignoring what God said], they will be attacked and defeated; they will be wounded and snared and captured.
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 Because of [what will happen in Samaria], you rulers in Jerusalem who make fun of me, listen to this message from Yahweh:
Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is in Jerusalem.
15 You [boast] saying, “We have made an alliance with [the leaders of Egypt], so we will not be killed [in battles]; we will never go to the place where the dead people are. When the [army of Assyria] attacks us, they will never defeat us, because we have made [an agreement with Egypt] to protect us!” [But that agreement consists of] a lot of lies [DOU]. (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, Yahweh [our] Lord says this: “Listen to this! I am going to place in Jerusalem [someone who is like] [MET] a foundation stone, [he is like] a stone that has been tested [to determine if it is solid]. [He will be like] a valuable cornerstone around which it will be safe to build a house; and whoever trusts in him will never be disappointed.
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 I will test you [people of Jerusalem] to find out if you will act justly and righteously [like] [MET] someone uses a plumb line [to determine if a wall is straight and vertical]. But because your agreement [with Egypt] to protect you [was made by leaders] lying to each other and deceiving each other, you will be defeated and taken away [from your country] by [an army that will come against you like] [MET] a flood.
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 I will annul/destroy the agreement that you made [with the leaders of Egypt]. You thought that [because of that agreement] you would not be killed, and you would not go to the place where the dead are. [But] when the vast [army of Assyria] overwhelms you like a flood, they will trample you into the ground. (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 Their soldiers will come during the morning, at noontime, and at night, and they will carry you all away.” And when you understand this message, you will be terrified.
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 have heard people say], “Your bed is very short, you will not be able to sleep in it; your blankets are very narrow; they will not cover you!” [That means for you that your agreement with Egypt is not going to save you].
For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.
21 Yahweh will come [and cause you to be defeated]; he will do to you like he did to the army of Philistia at Perizim Mountain and like he did to the Amor people-group at Gibeon Valley. What he will do will be [very] strange and unusual [DOU].
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 The Commander of the armies of angels has told me that he is going to destroy the entire land. So do not ridicule [what I say any more], because if you do that he will punish you [even] more severely.
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 [IDM] to what I say; pay attention carefully.
Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech.
24 When a farmer plows some ground, does he never plant seeds [RHQ]? Does he continue to plow it and never plant anything [RHQ]?
Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground?
25 No, he makes the ground very level, and then he plants seeds— dill and cumin and wheat and barley. He plants each kind of seed in the correct manner.
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 [He does that] because God has taught him the correct way to do it.
For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him.
27 [Farmers] never thresh caraway/dill with a heavy sledge/club; instead, they beat it only with a stick. [Farmers] never thresh cumin by driving a cart over it; instead, they hit it [only] with a rod.
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 And grain for baking bread is crushed easily, so the farmers do not continue to pound it for a long time. They sometimes cause their horses to pull a cart over it [to thresh it], [but] doing that does not grind the grain.
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 The Commander of the armies of angels gives [us] wonderful advice [about how to do things]; he causes [us] to be very wise. [So what the farmers do is very smart/wise, but what your leaders are doing is very stupid].
This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.
