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 proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, To the fading flower, his glorious beauty, At the head of the rich valley of a people stupefied 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 a strong, a mighty one from the Lord Like a storm of hail, like a destructive tempest, Like a flood of mighty, overflowing waters, With violence shall dash it to the ground.
3 By feet trodden down is the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
It shall be trodden under foot, The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim.
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, their glorious beauty, At the head of the rich valley, Shall be as the early fig before the time of harvest, Which whoso seeth plucketh immediately, And swalloweth as soon as it is in his hand.
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 Jehovah of hosts Be a glorious crown, and a beautiful diadem to 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.
A spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, And of strength to them that drive back the enemy to their gates.
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 even these stagger through wine, And reel through strong drink; The priest and the prophet stagger through strong drink; They are overpowered with wine; They stumble through strong drink; They reel in vision, They stagger in judgment.
8 For all tables have been full of vomit, Filth — without place!
For all their tables are full of filthy vomit, So that there is no place 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,” say they, “will he teach knowledge, And to whom will he impart instruction? To the weaned from the milk? To those just taken from the breast?
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 upon precept, precept upon precept, Command upon command, command upon command, A little here, and a little there.”
11 For by scorned lip, and by another tongue, Doth He speak unto this people.
Yea, with stammering lips and a strange tongue He shall indeed speak 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,
He that said to them, “This is the way of rest, give rest to the weary; This is the way of safety”; 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.
Then shall the word of Jehovah be indeed to them “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Command upon command, command upon command, A little here, and a little there,” So that they shall go on, and fall backwards, and be broken, And be snared and caught.
14 Therefore, hear a word of Jehovah, ye men of scorning, Ruling this people that [is] in Jerusalem.
Wherefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, Ye scoffers, who rule this people 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)
Since ye say, “We have entered into a covenant with death, And with the under-world have we made an agreement, The overflowing scourge, when it passeth through, shall not reach us; For we have made falsehood our refuge, And in deceit we have hidden 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 Jehovah: Behold, I have laid in Zion as a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation; He that trusteth shall not flee away.
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.
I will make justice a line, And righteousness a plummet, And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of falsehood, And the waters shall overwhelm its 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 broken, And your agreement with the under-world shall not stand; When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, By it shall ye be beaten down. (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 bear you away; For every morning shall it pass through, By day and by night; Even to hear the rumor of it shall be terrible.
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.
Yea, the bed is too short for one to stretch himself on it, And the covering too narrow for one to wrap himself in it.
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 Jehovah will rise up, as in mount Perazim; He will be moved with anger, as in the valley of Gibeon, To perform his act, his strange act, And to execute his work, his strange work.
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 no longer scoffers, Lest your bands become stronger; For destruction and punishment have been revealed to me From Jehovah of hosts concerning the whole land!
23 Give ear, and hear my voice, Attend, and hear my saying:
Give ear, and listen to my voice, Attend, and hearken to my words!
24 The whole day plougheth the ploughman to sow? He openeth and harroweth his ground!
Is the ploughman always ploughing in order to sow? Is he always opening and harrowing his field?
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 the face thereof even, Doth he not then scatter the dill, and cast abroad the cumin, And sow the wheat in rows, And the barley in its appointed place, And the spelt in his border?
26 And instruct him for judgment doth his God, He doth direct him.
Thus his God rightly instructeth him, And giveth him knowledge.
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.
The dill is not beaten out with the thrashing-sledge, Nor is the wheel of the wain rolled over the cumin; But the dill is beaten out with a staff, And the cumin 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.
Bread-corn is beaten out, Yet doth not the husbandman thrash it without limit. He driveth over it the wheels of the wain, And the horses, yet doth he not utterly crush it.
29 Even this from Jehovah of Hosts hath gone out, He hath made counsel wonderful, He hath made wisdom great!
This also proceedeth from Jehovah of hosts; He is wonderful in counsel, Excellent in wisdom.
