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 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 Lo, 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 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 By feet trodden down is the proud crown 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 the beauty of his glory That [is] on the head of the fat valley, Hath been as its first-fruit before summer, That its beholder seeth, While it [is] yet in his hand he swalloweth it.
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 In that day is Jehovah of Hosts For a crown of beauty, and for a diadem of glory, To the remnant 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 who is sitting in the judgment, And for might [to] those turning back the battle to the gate.
They shall be left in the spirit of judgment for judgment, and for the strength of them that hinder slaying.
7 And even these through wine have erred, And through strong drink have wandered, 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.
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 have been full of vomit, Filth — without place!
A curse shall devour this counsel, for this [is their] counsel for the sake of covetousness.
9 By whom doth He teach knowledge? And by whom doth He cause to understand the report? The weaned from milk, the removed from 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 rule [is] on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,
Expect thou affliction on affliction, hope upon hope: yet a little, [and] yet a little,
11 For by scorned lip, and by another tongue, Doth He speak unto 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 Unto whom He hath said, 'This [is] the rest, give ye rest to the weary, And this — the refreshing:' And they have not been willing to hear,
This is the rest to him that is hungry, and this is the calamity: but they would not hear.
13 And to whom a word of Jehovah hath 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.
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 a word of Jehovah, ye men of scorning, Ruling this people that [is] in Jerusalem.
Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, ye afflicted men, and ye princes of this people that is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a provision, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Doth not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And in falsehood have been hidden.' (Sheol h7585)
Because ye 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 said the Lord Jehovah: 'Lo, I am laying a foundation in Zion, A stone — a tried stone, a corner stone precious, a settled foundation, He who is believing doth not make haste.
Therefore thus saith 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 have put judgment for a line, And righteousness for a plummet, And sweep away doth hail the refuge of lies, And the secret hiding-place do waters overflow.
And I will cause judgment [to be] for hope, and my compassion shall be for [just] measures, and ye that trust vainly in falsehood [shall fall]: for the storm shall by no means pass by you,
18 And disannulled hath been your covenant with death, And your provision with Sheol doth not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Then ye have been to it for a treading-place. (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, ye shall be beaten down by it. (Sheol h7585)
19 From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report.
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 shorter hath been the bed Than to stretch one's self out in, And the covering hath been narrower Than to wrap one's self up in.
ye that are distressed; we cannot fight, but we are ourselves too weak for you to be gathered.
21 For as [at] mount Perazim rise doth Jehovah, As [at] the valley in Gibeon He is troubled, To do His work — strange [is] His work, And to do His deed — strange [is] His deed.'
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, show not yourselves scorners, Lest strong be your bands, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, [Is] for all the land.
Therefore do not ye 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 ear, and hear my voice, Attend, and hear my saying:
Hearken, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.
24 The whole day plougheth the ploughman to sow? He openeth and harroweth his ground!
Will the ploughman plough all the day? or will he prepare the seed beforehand, before he tills the ground?
25 Hath he not, if he have made level its face, Then scattered fitches, and cummin sprinkle, And hath placed the principal wheat, And the appointed barley, And the rie [in] its own border?
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 thy borders?
26 And instruct him for judgment doth his God, He doth direct him.
So thou shalt be chastened by the judgment of thy God, and shalt rejoice.
27 For not with a sharp-pointed thing threshed are fitches, And the wheel of a cart on cummin turned round, For with a staff beaten out are fitches, And cummin with a rod.
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 beaten small, For not for ever doth he sorely thresh it, Nor crushed [it] hath a wheel of his cart, Nor do his hoofs beat it small.
for I will not be wroth with you for ever, neither shall the voice of my anger crush you.
29 Even this from Jehovah of Hosts hath gone out, He hath made counsel wonderful, He hath made wisdom great!
And these signs came forth from the Lord of hosts. Take counsel, exalt vain comfort.
