Isaiah 28

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty [is] a fading flower; who [are] on the head of the rich valleys of them that are overcome with 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, the LORD hath a mighty and strong one, [which] as a tempest of hail [and] a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall 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 crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.

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

4 And the glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the rich valley, shall be a fading flower, [and] as the early fruit before the summer; which, [when] he that looketh upon it, seeth while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

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 will the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the residue 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 that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn 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 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are overwhelmed with wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble [in] judgment.

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 are full of vomit [and] filthiness, [so that there is] no place [clean].

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

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the 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 precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

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

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will 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 said, This [is] the rest [with which] ye may cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not 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 But the word of the LORD was to them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

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 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which [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 ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not reach us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: (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 saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall 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 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the 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 shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (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 time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only [to] understand 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 is shorter than that [a man] can stretch himself [on it]: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself [in it].

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 the LORD will rise as [on] mount Perazim, he will be wroth as [in] the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

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 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

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 ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

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

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

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

25 When he hath made even the face of it, doth he not cast abroad the vetches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye in their place?

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 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, [and] doth teach him.

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

27 For the vetches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the vetches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin 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 -[corn] is bruised; because he will not always be threshing it, nor break [it with] the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it [with] his horsemen.

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 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, [who] is wonderful in counsel, [and] excellent in operation.

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