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 of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are smitten down with 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 Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, that casteth down to the earth with violence.

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

The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot;

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 his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, which when one looketh upon it, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

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 shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue 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 for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate.

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.

But these also reel through wine, and stagger through strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel through strong drink, they are confused because of wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they reel in vision, they totter in judgment.

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

For all tables are full of filthy vomit, and no place is clean.

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,

Whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make to understand the message? Them that are weaned from the milk, them that are drawn from the breasts?

10 For rule [is] on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,

For it is precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little.

11 For by scorned lip, and by another tongue, Doth He speak unto this people.

For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue shall it be spoken to this people;

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,

To whom it was said: 'This is the rest, give ye rest to the weary; and this is the refreshing'; yet 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.

And so the word of the LORD is unto them precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

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

Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scoffers, the ballad-mongers of this people which 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 death, and with the nether-world are we at agreement; when the scouring scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves'; (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 GOD: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.

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 make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

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)

And your covenant with death shall be disannulled and your agreement with the nether-world shall not stand; when the scouring scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden 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.

As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night; and it shall be sheer terror to understand the message.

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.

For the bed is too short for a man to stretch himself; and the covering too narrow when he gathereth himself up.

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.'

For the LORD will rise up as in mount Perazim, He will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that He may do His work, strange is His work, and bring to pass His act, strange is His act.

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.

Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bands be made strong; for an extermination wholly determined have I heard from the Lord, the GOD of hosts, upon the whole land.

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

Give ye ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my speech.

24 The whole day plougheth the ploughman to sow? He openeth and harroweth his ground!

Is the plowman never done with plowing to sow, with the opening and harrowing of his 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?

When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the black cummin, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place and the spelt in the border thereof?

26 And instruct him for judgment doth his God, He doth direct him.

For He doth instruct him aright; his God doth teach him.

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 cummin is not threshed with a threshing-sledge, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the black cummin is beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

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.

Is bread corn crushed? Nay, he will not ever be threshing it; and though the roller of his wagon and its sharp edges move noisily, he doth not crush it.

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

This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts: Wonderful is His counsel, and great His wisdom.